I don't believe in love at first sight
by Mimi-dudette
Summary: Five years after Hikaru met Haruhi, his opinion of her had radically changed. She had gone from being that nerdy little gay guy who bought them coffee, to being the girl he couldn't live without. HikaHaru KaoOC xx
1. Love at first sight

**I don't believe in love at first sight**

**Summary: **Five years after Hikaru met Haruhi, his opinion of her had radically changed. She had gone from being that nerdy little gay guy who bought them coffee, to being the girl he couldn't live without.

**Pairing: **TamaHaru! 8D ... Only kidding xD Expect severe HikaHaru fluff from here on out.

**A/N: **This is a two-shot. I have an idea for a possible third chapter, but I'm not sure. (+.+)'

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**Enjoy~! 8D Please read and review~! xxx**

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**Hikaru's point of view**

* * *

I don't believe in love at first sight.

A fan girl asked me if I did once, with hopeful eyes the size of saucers, and I couldn't help immediately shooting down her romantic dreams with a cynical snort of '_hell_ _no. It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of_'. When her face instantly fell in tragic disappointment, I was forced to quickly scrabble around and splutter:

"Oh, but! I -I really don't know. I simply don't remember when I saw _my_ love for the first time, do I Kaoru?"

It was a pretty pathetic comeback, but fan girls can easily ignore obvious signs of reality and will go for _anything_ as long as it's remotely linked to their little fantasies. You should have seen the way her face lit up when Kaoru looked round and gave a little uke-ish giggle of agreement - she looked like a Christmas tree. Still, as she dissolved into mad squeals of moe, I found myself thinking back to her question and thinking ruthlessly:

_Moron._

It's my belief that 'love at first sight' is a stupid notion and doesn't exist in the slightest.

I hold this view for one very valid reason.

The first time I met the girl I would love until forever, my Haruhi, I thought she was a scruffy, ugly, deprived, poor, nerdy, unfashionable, reserved, ignorant, hopeless, weird, untidy, geekazoid-type gay guy with no chance in hell of ever making a solid impression at Ouran, apart from being the guy we all boss around and feel sorry for.

One year later, I was hopelessly and utterly in love with her.

So, I guessing you can see where I'm coming from with the whole 'love at first sight' issue.

I mean, seriously. Who falls in love with just a look? Or just _for_ looks? How shallow is that? Love is, unless I'm _horribly _mistaken, something that takes time and events to bud and start to develop. Can it _really _be called love if you don't know the general picture of who you're loving? Their strengths and weaknesses, glories and downfalls, dreams and fears?

Can you truly love a painting if you only see one tiny corner of it?

No, of course you can't.

At least, that's what I think. Other people, such as our resident romantic idiot Tamaki, would completely disagree. But yeah, I don't really care what they think.

No offence.

The first time I met her, I thought she was a total nerd and could only ever mount up to being a plaything.

One year after I met her, I was completely in love with her and was blind to any other girl.

Two years after I met her, I was on blissful cloud nine as I could finally call her my girlfriend.

And _five years _after I met her, I had a shocking but very _real_ empathy.

I couldn't live without her.

I loved her and would continue to do so until the day I died. I never wanted to be with anyone else for my entire life and would never be happy unless I could hold her in my arms in ten years time and still call her mine. I wanted her forever.

The idea came to me so suddenly, so beautifully, that it instantly tumbled out of my mouth and straight into the ears of the person sitting next to me, who had such a strong hold on my heart.

"Marry me."

They turned round, startled, and then, after a long pause… snorted in laughter.

"Sorry Hika," Kaoru grinned, winking teasingly, "I'm kind of taken. So are you, as a matter of fact."

"Not _you_." I scowled, rolling my eyes when he pretended to be offended.

We were on our way back from the studio to our version of a student flat - a top-designer penthouse - and were casually lolling around in the back seat of our Rolls Royce when I'd made my sudden announcement. We were both wearing designer suits, with a few personal touches to make them a bit more Hitachiin-like - random coloured scarves, three too many layers, and a severe lack in top buttons.

Kaoru was fixing me with an amused look as I quickly elaborated, slightly flustered at repeating my intention but _needing_ my twin's opinion on it anyway.

If there's one thing I've learned from life, it's this: never do anything without Kaoru's advice.

It will fail.

"I mean _Haruhi_. I… I want to ask her to marry me."

The moment I'd let it out of my mouth, Kaoru's face split into the hugest, _toothiest_ grin I'd ever seen in my life - and I'd seen some pretty toothy grins. His eyes twinkled as if our birthday had just come 9 months early, with extra presents just for the youngest.

"Aww, really Hika?" He chuckled happily. "That's awesome. Congratulations and all that."

I blinked at him in anticipation for a few seconds, waiting for a bit more support than just 'Congratulations and all that'. I mean, seriously, marriage is like… like… like _marriage_. I needed the reassurance of my all-knowing twin here!

"You think… you think it's a good idea?" I prompted, the restless uncertainty clear in my voice; why try to hide it when Kaoru would know it's there anyway?

His golden eyes and teasing grin suddenly softened with fondness and warmth; I was left with a very _reassuring_, very _Kaoru-like _smile.

"Hikaru, I've been waiting for you to say that for a whole year." He paused to laugh at my bewildered look. "You sure like to take your time. I'd wait until next year to actually get _married_, but I'm all for you two being engaged. In fact," he beamed, "I don't think anything would make Haruhi happier."

_There_ was the all-knowing reassurance I'd been waiting for.

I couldn't help but grin goofily back at him, a mad feeling of mounting nerves and excitement building up in my chest as if my very heart was expanding to the size of football as I thought about the immensity of what I wanted. I tried it out a few times in my head:

Mr and Mrs Hitachiin.

Haruhi Hitachiin.

H. Hitachiin and H. Hitachiin.

The H family.

We'd have to call any kids something like _Hiroko_ or _Hanna_, just so they'd fit the 'H' trend…

"_Hikaru_!"

"_Ah_?!"

I blinked madly as Kaoru suddenly began clicking his fingers in my face, looking - for once - impatient at my sudden lapse in awareness. I stared blankly at him as he rolled his eyes dramatically, prodding my forehead with his finger.

"Focus." He scolded, as if I was some daydreaming pre-schooler. "I just asked how you're going to propose to Haruhi."

Oh…

I blinked.

…Crap.

How _should _I propose? It's hard to do anything romantic with Haruhi at the best of times, and isn't _romance_ what a proposal should be all about? She wouldn't want anything over the top and would just _laugh_ at any grand lovey-dovey gesture… but at the same time, she wouldn't want it to be an insignificant stay-at-home sort of moment either.

Kaoru noticed my look of horrified puzzlement and wrinkled his nose in understanding; Haruhi was difficult to impress.

Not because she had high standards. But because high standards _didn't _impress her. In fact, they kind of did the opposite.

I say again: crap.

Kaoru settled back in his seat and propped his head up with a fist, frowning thoughtfully as he watched me struggle. Finally, he said: "A restaurant is out. A humble girl like Haruhi would just get irritated at being at some expensive restaurant, especially if there was loads of strangers watching when you proposed. So I guess we have to cross out a public place as well."

He said 'we'. _Kaoru's going to help me_.

Sometimes, I really love my brother.

I quickly spoke up too, as I _was_ the one who really should be coming up with the place. "Haruhi gets too sick to travel somewhere if it's just for a day, so we can't _go_ anywhere."

You see, once I took (kidnapped) Haruhi to go on her first week-long holiday abroad to Cyprus with me and Kaoru. A few hundred miles and an upturned lunch later however, we discovered one tiny little problem: Haruhi gets travel sick.

Which is just _typical_.

"Maybe when we have a cherry-blossom party? Though I doubt you want to wait that long---"

"Hell no. Maybe watching a sunset…?"

"Nah. Too corny."

"Hm."

"Hm."

We… weren't really getting anywhere.

I frowned irritably; this was obviously really important. Haruhi was the girl I loved and wanted to marry, so I needed to find somewhere really _amazing_ to propose to her. I quickly snatched a piece of paper from my bag and began scribbling down the quota to clear my mind, brow furrowed in concentration (Kaoru laughed).

Somewhere local.

Somewhere private.

Somewhere cheap.

Somewhere special.

Somewhere familiar.

Somewhere she hasn't been to before.

Somewhere seasonal.

Somewhere awesome.

Kaoru leaned on my shoulder and together we gave the list a stern look, crossing out possible places in our minds as we looked down each requirement. We could think of plenty of places that we _couldn't_ go to, but so far we were coming up with a blank for possible '_yes-let's-go-there!_' destinations.

… Crap.

* * *

**What do you do when you have-loads of homework, have-loads-of-homework, have-loads-of-homework~~?**

**Write a story and forget-all-your-homework, forget-all-your-homework, forget-all-your-homework~~!**

**8D And I wonder why I have to cram near the deadline. Please don't follow my example xD**

**Anyhoo, a bit of HikaHaru goodiness for everyone, as the manga is severely lacking in HikaHaru fluff at the moment. Apart from like, Hikaru being happily anti-HikaHaru, which just sucks. But yeah~ I love the manga anyway~~~ 8D**

**I hope you enjoyed and thank you very much for reading! :D I'll update soon~!**

**And remember, every time you review, Bisco Hatori gets a sudden urge to write a 'HikaHaru version' of the manga. ;)**

**xx**


	2. Will you?

**Haruhi's point of view**

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"_Haruhi, I've got a surprise for you~"_

"_Joy."_

"_Don't kill yourself trying to sound enthusiastic. Anyway, can we meet up Sunday afternoon? You're off all day, right?"_

"_Yeah… but I'm sure Mei said something about meeting up then. She'll kill me if I cancel."_

"_But, Ha-ru-hi~~~!! I'm your boyfriend! I should get first dibs!"_

"…_You sound about five years old…"_

"_Please, Haru-darlin'! It has to be Sunday, I don't want to wait!"_

"_But Mei--"_

"_I'll talk to Mei. Okay? Promise you'll meet me?"_

"_Fine, fine. But don't blame me if Mei kills you."_

"_Love you too, sweetheart."

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_

**3 message(s)**

**To: **Haruhi  
**From: **Mei**  
Message: **Hikaru talked to me, no worries~! We can meet up another day, right? 8D In fact let's meet up Monday. After work. No, BEFORE work. Kay? ;) Call me Sunday night too. Or else. xx

**To: **Haruhi  
**From: **Kaoru  
**Message: **Hey, I'm inviting myself round to yours for dinner Sunday night, kay~? ^x^ Have fun with Hika~ 8D Be nice~ x

**To: **Haruhi **  
From: **Mei**  
Message: **BTW, I really like green for a colour scheme. Just sayin'. xx

I blink in perplexity as I reread the weird messages that bombarded my phone last night. I didn't think it was actually _possible_ to get Mei to change her mind, but whatever Hikaru told her seems to have, not just changed her mind, but got her totally enthusiastic for whatever he's got planned. And what's with the green…?

I sigh in defeat and finally pocket my mobile, going back to simply zoning out in boredom while I wait for Hikaru to appear. There's no point even trying to decipher Kaoru's message. He's always inviting himself round - no change there - and anyway, he's _bound_ to know what Hikaru's planning.

Probably helped him plan it too.

Taking a slow sip from my coffee and relishing in its sharp taste, I cast a weary eye over the flourishing park that Hikaru made me promise to meet him in.

The comfortable weather and cloudless sky have drawn out a handful of families that litter the play area, and I have to smile as I watch the poor parents try fruitlessly to convince their children that it was getting late and they really should be getting home. The children, of course, pay no attention and most of them, cackling madly with wild childishness, take refuge in the top of the climbing frame, while a small group of boys and a slightly disgusted-looking girl huddle in the corner, poking something with a stick.

"_Eww_!" The girl suddenly squeals, jumping back in horror as the boys begin to cheer in triumph. "You killed it! It _exploded_! Eww!"

The family atmosphere is so apparent as a couple of adults run over in a panic that I find myself laughing quietly, gazing at them fondly over the rim of my take-out cup. A man and a woman share an exasperated but fond look as they stop near them and hold their arms out to the girl and a slightly older boy, who instantly run up to them and begin yelling at the top of their voices, prodding podgy fingers at each other accusingly.

I smile as I watch them and my mind, with nothing better to do, floats into its own thoughts. _Must be nice…_

Suddenly a pair of hands grab my waist and jerk me backwards roughly.

"**Surprise**!"

"_God_!"

I can't help but yelp in surprise as I jump to steady my drink, before turning to glare viciously at the idiot who grabbed me.

The idiot I happen to be in love with.

God knows why.

Hikaru Hitachiin smirks back at me, a wicked childishness hiding behind his smile as he bares his teeth teasingly. There's a certain air of lazy adoration hovering around him as he loops his arms round me possessively and pulls me closer, like he's reclaiming what's already his.

I almost snort at the thought and promptly pinch his hand, to which he pouts sulkily before loosening his hold.

But he recovers quickly and grins down at me, eyes twinkling in mysterious excitement. He cocks his head a little as he looks at me so his bright hair - slightly shorter than his brother's - brushes softly against his brow and frames his impish, golden eyes. He lets his fingertips - or rather, _I_ let his fingertips - flutter adoringly down the side of my face before he says, "Were you waiting long, Haru-darlin'?"

"Nope." I smile back at him, knowing how much he would _love_ it if I said something more along the lines of: _I was waiting for you for _ages_, baby. I missed you so much~~~!_

Ha. As if.

Still, I can't help but help but feel ludicrously lighter with him near me.

We started dating halfway through our third year at Ouran, much to everyone's but my father's delight, and have been going strong ever since. Sometimes, I honestly have to wonder why I put up with him, what with his never-ending wisecracks and occasional one-track mind; but then he takes my hand quietly and works himself up into a huge fluster just to say the simplest thing, and then I remember.

Because I don't think I could live without him; I genuinely love everything about him.

Apart from his tendency to wake me up by texting me at midnight, just to say '_Goodnight~! 8D_'. I could live without that, to be honest.

Hikaru grins wildly, pulling me back to the present, and grabs hold of my hand firmly, tugging it with giddy impatience.

"Ready to go, then?" He prompts, nodding over to the entrance where his car is undoubtedly waiting, and bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet almost nervously. "Come on~!" He adds as he pulls me along impatiently.

I frown at him irritably, throwing my almost-empty cup into a bin casually as we pass it - or as Hikaru _drags _me past it. I'm suddenly glad that I opted to have a coffee; I have a feeling I'm going to need the caffeine.

"Am I allowed to know where we're going?" I grumble, trying desperately not to get caught up in the infectious smile he flashes back at me.

"Of course you aren't, Haru-darlin'!" He laughs predictably, making me frown.

If he's calling me that ridiculous pet-name… and he's so annoyingly exited … and he won't tell me what's happening… it can only mean one thing.

I narrow my eyes.

He's about to do something really stupid.

* * *

"For God's sake, Hikaru, tell me where we are!"

"Ah, but that would be telling~"

"Yes it would. Would you like a medal?"

Hikaru only sniggers devilishly in response and I groan, completely infuriated despite myself.

He's had his hand clamped firmly over my eyes for the last ten minutes, essentially blinding me as he leads me to whatever he's so set on showing me. His excitement's making him unconsciously walk so fast that it's only his arm around me that's keeping me from stumbling to the floor; it's all I can do to keep up as he pulls me along. At some point, we went inside a bustling building full of people talking in low, business-like voices that - to my utter mortification - quietened and turned into muffled laughs as Hikaru proudly dragged me past into what felt and sounded like an elevator.

My brow furrows irritably at the dopey elevator music as we ascend; I can only imagine where he's taking me.

Actually, no, I can't. I gave up imagining how his brain works a long time ago.

The elevator finally clicks to a stop and I try hastily to squint past his hand as the doors slide open with a whisper; Hikaru however, happily deters my attempts by placing his other hand over my eyes too, blocking out all light and leaving me to stumble blindly forward when he starts to walk again.

He laughs annoyingly when I curse. I never realised how much I hate not seeing where I'm going. This had better be good.

I think there's only one other person on this floor (of course, there might be a hundred who're all just really good at being silent, as I can't actually _see _anything) and Hikaru mutters to them, his words too low and hurried for me to catch. Though I think I hear 'Tamaki' and 'permission', which is worrying.

I'm about to snap at him irritably, unbelievably frustrated, when he suddenly starts moving again, chuckling at something I can't see.

"Almost there, Haru-darlin'." He confirms cheerily, far too entertained for my liking.

"Hika--"

But I'm cut off as a door opens and a rush of fresh, cold air swallows us, so unexpectedly that it makes me shiver and gasp, much to Hikaru's amusement. Why are we _outside_? I suddenly get a horrifying mental image of a helicopter launch pad - it wouldn't be the first time - and feel my face pale as I'm forced to stumble forward again.

"What are we--?"

"No flying, I promise." He says, a smirk evident in his voice as if he can read my mind. "Besides, I only kidnap you on bank holidays."

… Right. I feel _so_ much better.

We move forward into the cool air, thankfully walking a bit slower now, until finally he stops and carefully repositions my head slightly, just to make sure I'm looking in the right direction.

"Okay." Hikaru speaks up, undisguised excitement behind his voice as he gets ready to move his hands. "If it's a bit too amazing for you, be sure to grab onto me. In fact, if you have a sudden urge to make out because of the shock, I'm cool with that too."

I scoff sceptically and he sighs, muttering something about Kaoru getting the 'over-affectionate girlfriend', before he finally lifts his hands with a flourish. At first, I can't see anything at all as the sudden blinding light overloads my eyes after being blinded for so long, and I have to blink owlishly before I can finally see what's spread out before us.

And what I see is… everything.

People and buildings, cars and bikes, trees and flowers. I see everything I'm used to, suddenly thrown out in a different and ridiculously startling perspective, glittering in the low afternoon sun.

It's so disorientating, that for a few moments all I can do is blink and stare in bewilderment until I realise where we are. We're standing perched on the edge of a roof on one of the tallest buildings in the area, staring out at the oblivious world that seems miles and miles below us. The orange sun's low enough to catch onto the thousands of bits of glass but not enough to make them shine blindingly; instead, they glitter, as if the world is suddenly bathed underwater.

And the best thing is, there's no helicopters in sight.

"The roof of Souh Offices. Like it?" Hikaru asks impishly from my side, and I almost laugh at how utterly chuffed he sounds with himself as he grins from ear to ear.

"Yeah," I admit, "it's actually amazing." Then I smile and move over to him to kiss his cheek, both fond and amused as I say casually, "Kaoru thought of coming here, didn't he?"

His face instantly flattens into an sulky pout and he frowns at me, as if he's genuinely offended that I would even think of such a thing. "No." He sniffs. "Course he didn't."

"Really?"

"Really."

"So you thought of it all by yourself?"

"Yep, all by myself."

"Kaoru didn't help at all."

"Nope, not at all."

"…"

"…"

"Does Kaoru help you come up with _everything_?"

"Yes…"

I scoff as he pouts again, sticking his bottom lip out grumpily.

He and Kaoru are still very much a package deal; they're as close as any lovers, just without the 'lover' part, and struggle to find any limit to what they feel comfortable doing and telling each other.

Which, obviously, can be slightly annoying.

Like when Hikaru found out about an extremely sensitive spot on my side that fears tickles like Tamaki fears logic - information which I did not part with willingly and which Hikaru, being Hikaru, instantly abused - and the next time I saw Kaoru he instantly walked up to me and prodded my side, just to see what would happen. You can guess how that worked out.

I didn't talk to Hikaru for a week.

Hikaru suddenly moves behind me and loops his arms around my waist lovingly as he lays his cheek against my hair and exhales slowly. I lean back into his chest, content and comfortable as I watch the world slowly bustle beneath us, preparing happily for the days end.

There's a mild thrill coupled with seeing things I recognise, like the restaurant at which we often meet up with the ex-host club, and the park where we like to stroll in when we find the time - I even see someone dressed in yellow, which instantly reminds me of the daily insanity of Ouran Academy.

Everything's linked to a little memory, and it's spread out before us like a living map. I smile dopily as I let my eyes wander across it all; I much prefer this to when he splashes out his money on ridiculous affairs, like that hot air balloon he decided to buy a few weeks ago, that I couldn't even ride because it made me feel too sick.

I mean really, when your boyfriend turns up at your doorstep with a hot air balloon and half a pound of cake, you know something's wrong. And when such things are a weekly occurrence, you know something's _really_ wrong.

Hikaru suddenly breaks the content silence, his voice uncharacteristically hesitant and wary.

"Um… Haruhi?"

"Mm?"

There's a long pause as he rolls his head slowly so his forehead's leaning against my hair instead and I can feel his breath against the back of my neck, shallow and awkward. Then he mutters in a low voice, "I love you. And I… and I want to wake up next to you every single day of my life."

I instantly freeze as I hear that, as it sounds an awful lot like…

I blink and glance over at him, but he isn't looking at me. His eyes are flickering nervously from the sky, to the floor, to his side, then back to the sky again, and his fingers are threading and rethreading with mine restlessly. It almost reminds me of when he first confessed, years ago, flushed and awkward; he wouldn't look at me then either.

But finally, his eyes make their way to mine and there they lock, brown and gold, extreme variations of the exact same colour.

With a determined steel suddenly taking over him, he moves round smoothly so the view is behind him. Then he kneels down and slowly takes one of my hands in both of his. And for some reason, it suddenly occurs to me that I'm really short compared; I don't even have to stoop as he pulls my hand to his lips.

Then one of his hands suddenly disappear into his pocket and, still holding onto my hand firmly, he pulls out a small, dark-violet box. Hesitating only slightly to study my face carefully, like someone testing the water before they jump in, he flicks it open with his thumb to reveal a golden ring.

At first, it thankfully just looks like a plain gold band, no huge rock in sight, but the moment he tilts it slightly I can see the subtle dusting of diamonds along its face. They catch the light beautifully and make it glitter softly as he holds it up.

I'm describing all of this as though it isn't affecting me.

But, I'm ashamed to say, it _is_.

My heart is pounding like a jackhammer and all the blood is rushing to my head and making me feel dizzy. I know what's happening, but I can't actually form the thought or get my head round it at all; it's as if my mind isn't daring to work until he voices the words that'll change my life.

Though, for a split second, I can't help thinking fleetingly of my Mother.

"_You're so pretty, my little Haruhi…"_

Hikaru stares at me.

"_The day you get married…"_

He opens his mouth.

"_I think I'm going to cry."_

"Haruhi, will you marry me?"

For a moment, I just stare at him blankly.

My mind's completely bare, as if it's waiting in as much hushed anticipation for my answer as Hikaru is. I open my mouth to speak but it takes a second before I can remember how to make my mouth form the words. And even then, a sudden, silly thought overrides it before my voice can come back to me.

_I… don't like this._

Not the fact that Hikaru's put so much thought into finding somewhere I'll like. Not the fact he's found just the right kind of ring to give me. Not the fact he's actually proposing. I love all of that.

I just don't like… this. I don't care if it's tradition.

"Hikaru?"

"Yeah?" He sounds nervous; I think his voice managed to jump two whole octaves in that one word.

"Can you… stand up?"

He gives me a wildly puzzling look, probably disbelieving I'm saying anything that isn't a plain yes or no, but still moves up from his kneeling position anyway. He frowns searchingly at me and ducks his head so we're standing eye-to-eye, right in front of each other, totally equal.

Much better.

"Haruhi?" Hikaru prompts impatiently, his face working weirdly as if he doesn't know whether to grin or glare. "Sweetheart, can you… can you kind of answer? I'm so nervous I think I might puke."

And he calls me a mood killer?

For a second, I just pause and study the little details of his face that I've come to know and - dare I say it - love; I smile as I watch his emotions flash across his eyes, as easy to read as an open book, as cliché as the phrase may be. I can hear every time he takes a shallow, nervous intake of air, and I can even detect his breath faltering slightly with emotion as I finally give my answer, my voice smooth and steady; because, really, there was never any doubt.

"Yes, Hikaru. Of course I'll marry you."

And then I can't hear anything at all because the air's full of his joyous, _loud_ whoops. He wraps his arms around me happily and spins me round until I feel sick, smothering my shouts of protest with his adoring lips.

It's insane and passionate and I feel almost giddy as he sweeps me up in the love of it all so I don't really know what's happening anymore.

… I worry this may be foreshadowing something.

* * *

**A long and insane marriage, perhaps? 8D Ah, I'm such a nerd. xD**

**I hope you enjoyed the second half! Did anyone guess that he'd propose on a roof? I hope not xD Hopefully it's a surprise and not a dissapointment. I think roofs are romantic~ 8D **

**By the way, Kaoru designs her wedding dress, while Mrs Hitachiin designs her honeymoon outfit. They played 'rock, paper, scissors' and their Mom lost. Hikaru can't design anything because it'll ruin the surprise, so he's stuck making the flowers look pretty. ;)**

**Thank you very much for reading~! 8D**

**All reviewers get a wedding invitation~! ;D**

**xx**

**Edit: Uh, I think I might write a few more chapters to this. I'm not sure but, uh... stay tuned? xD  
**


	3. Family care for each other, right?

**Family care for each other, right?

* * *

**

Haruhi was restless.

She perched on the edge of the plush bed, trying fruitlessly to feel at ease in the five-star hotel room. She had already bathed and Mei would be arriving soon to help her finish getting ready, but until then there was nothing for her to do but wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Waiting and nerves weren't a good match.

She paced restlessly around the room in sweeping laps, ignorant to the expensive carpet she was scuffing her heels on in irritation. She sat on the small stool in front of the dressing table, and then shuffled over to the bed, then to the windowsill, then looped back round to the stool. She huffed and sighed, and glared over at the small book she had too much nervous energy to read.

She even gave in and tried a few of the small yellow sweets that someone had placed delicately on the side. They were high-quality banana cubes, coated in fine sugar, and were so sweet that she wrinkled her nose with every one she tried.

They were sickly sweet and she hated them.

Nevertheless, that didn't stop her from taking another one whenever the nerves got too much, nibbling it tentatively, and trying to ignore the fact they were practically high-class cavities in a cube.

Haruhi huffed again and plucked another from the glass bowl, her actions almost subconscious as she licked it and wrinkled her nose at the sweet banana. Where was Mei? Surely, she should be here by now.

She quickly frowned and shook her head, trying to rid herself of the mortifying thought of everyone, all perfectly ready, waiting impatiently at the church for her while she sat here on her own, eating sweets and wearing the carpet down.

Popping the sweet primly into her mouth, she stood up again and cast an anxious glance over to the bed, on top of which was a stunning gown, which always gave her the feeling that it was much more impressive than she could ever appreciate. Mei had almost started squealing at the sight of it, while Haruhi herself had simply labelled it as 'very nice'.

It was all cream and gold, that being the overall colour scheme for the event which had been chosen mainly by Kaoru; a 'compromising colour scheme' he'd called it.

On one hand, the dress itself could be described as quite plain, as there were no frills or diamonds or extras attached; all of its beauty came from the intricate folding of the soft, silky fabric.

Waves of soft cream bunched near the hip and cascaded down in swirls for the skirt, which came just short of her feet, so she didn't have to worry about standing on it. The top was strapless and plainly accented with a few cleverly placed folds and strands of gold, which apparently showed off her tiny waist and worked off the small golden ornament that she was ordered to put in her hair.

Around her shoulders would be a small, bullion shawl.

"To draw attention away from your non-existent chest." A certain smirking Hitachiin had irritatingly informed her. "You can look like a boy all you want, Haruhi, but we should try to avoid that on your wedding day, ne?"

Her wedding day.

Today, Haruhi Fujioka was getting married and tomorrow, she wouldn't be Haruhi Fujioka anymore.

It didn't seem five minutes ago since Hikaru was kneeling down and stuffing a ring in her face, asking with as much grace as he could, '_Will you marry me, Haruhi?_'

So many memories were compressed into such a retrospectively short time that she often found herself being swept away with them. She was never one for daydreaming, yet suddenly whenever she found the bliss of peace and quiet, and settled herself down to read a book, she could never manage more than a page.

Her mind would drift and reminisce happily of its own accord, trying to make sense of it all. Trying to tie it down was as futile as trying to catch a balloon when the teasing wind had already caused it to dance beyond your fingertips, out into the never-ending sky.

She thought of the ex-host club, having to hold them off as they excitedly tried to suffocate her in congratulations.

She thought of her Father, beaming and hugging her tightly, before he frog-marched her fiancé off to have a 'talk'.

She thought of Kaoru, enthusiastically showing off his designs to her and forcefully dragging her into the fitting room again, just to make sure it was perfect.

She thought of her Hikaru, kissing, caressing, whispering, '_I want you, Haruhi. Forever._'

Her mind lingered helplessly as she stared blankly at the splash of cream on the bed and absentmindedly rolled a banana sweet between her fingers.

_Knock!_

Haruhi jumped wildly as someone suddenly knocked loudly on the door, forcefully jerking her out of her thoughts. Flushed slightly with surprise, she glared at the polished oak and, after irritably dropping the sweet - she didn't even _like_ banana -, strode over to it.

She quickly opened it, but, instead of finding Mei like she'd expected, she came face to face with her bright-eyed almost-brother-in-law.

Kaoru beamed down happily at her blank expression. He was already dressed for the occasion, sporting a designer suit that fit comfortably in with the angelic colour scheme. He had a fitted cream jacket and a matching patterned waistcoat, covering a crisp white shirt. Around his neck was a soft bullion necktie that flawlessly brought attention to his hair and bright gold eyes.

"Hey, little sister~!" He sang, chuckling as she frowned. "Mei's going to be late, so I'm here to do your hair and make-up instead~!"

"Eh…?" Haruhi blinked again, suddenly lost. Mei was late? That was unusual… "Why's she going to be late?" She ventured, not moving from the doorway as she frowned at him. "Is everything okay?"

Kaoru rolled his eyes dramatically and leaned over to brush his fingers across her brow, gently smoothing away her frown, as if he felt it had no right to be there.

"Honestly, you sound like Hikaru." He snorted, before putting on an exaggerated version of his brother's panicked voice. "_Kaoru, where's this? Kaoru, where's that? Kaoru, what's happening? Kaoru, we're late. Kaoru, I can't find my bloody trousers_." He paused to roll his eyes again and make a tragic face, pretending his twin's worry was actually getting on his nerves.

"He's been pestering me all morning." He complained in conclusion.

Haruhi snorted. "And you'd be sulking if he hadn't." She added for him with a quirked eyebrow, causing Kaoru's lips to twitch.

"Probably." He relented, laughing fondly before he tapped the door pointedly. "So, are you going to let me in so I can make you look beautiful for your wedding day? Time is of the essence and all that."

"But Mei wanted-"

"But Mei isn't here!" He quickly interrupted her, sticking his bottom lip out. "And _I _am."

She was about to inform him of how much Mei would murder her if she didn't get the chance to do her up today when Kaoru suddenly ducked his head and grinned teasingly at her, cocking his head mockingly.

"Ne, are you _worried,_ Haru? I promise not to _do_ anything~" He purred, winking. "But then again, you know what we Hitachiins are like with siblings…"

When Haruhi just responded with painfully deadpan glare, he laughed and happily skipped around her into the room, making sure to ruffle her hair on his way past.

"Alright, I'm sorry." He sniggered, pulling out the plush chair next to her dressing table and patting it primly. "If you promise not to squirm too much, I'll promise not to make anymore incest jokes." He paused thoughtfully, before adding with a casual shrug, "Well, for now anyway."

…_Is that a normal thing to have to promise…?_

Sighing, Haruhi finally gave up and wearily sat down where Kaoru instructed. She honestly hated wearing make-up, almost as much as she hated people doing things for her. And now Kaoru was threatening to do _both_, like the evil, make-up wielding devil Tamaki always made him out to be.

Still, she mused distractedly, it _was _her wedding day.

Sacrifices had to be made.

Haruhi sat wordlessly as Kaoru shrugged off his jacket and, after placing it out of harm's way, expertly set to work. He held a couple of hair grips in his mouth as he flittered around her and quickly slid them all into her hair, making sure every strand was out of the way before he started on the make-up. Then he swiftly picked up a beige tub and, licking his lips, slowly spread a light cream evenly over her face, only breaking his concentration to tell her to close her eyes.

When she opened them again, Haruhi stared silently into the mirror. The mirror stared back.

There was… something she was putting off addressing. Or rather, there was something she wanted, but refused to think about. The immensity of how impossible and pathetic the wish was pressed down on her, and she forced her mind to reject it.

But it was hard to ignore. The thought of what she was missing was persistent and it swallowed up her mind, needing. It hurt parts of her heart that she hadn't let ache in years.

Haruhi stared into the mirror. Someone else stared back.

For a while, there was silence as Kaoru worked, and Haruhi barely noticed how slowly he was putting the expensive make-up on until he finally stopped.

"...Haruhi?"

"Yes, Kaoru?"

He peered at her for a second, something sad and knowing behind his eyes. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing." It was true; as she forced the wish out of her mind, only an aching blankness replaced it.

Kaoru fell silent and, though his hands stayed motionless, she went back to staring into the mirror. As it always was with matters that she tried to ignore, the thought came back to her with double the power the moment Kaoru had asked her about it. The wish was pointless and childish, and she hadn't felt the need for it in many years.

But today was different. Today, it hurt.

"I don't believe you."

Haruhi blinked and looked back at him, trying to make her face look sceptical. He was sitting on his heels in front of her, make-up brush forgotten at his feet, fixing her with an intense _tell-me-everything _look. She guessed that Hikaru had seen that look many times before.

"I don't believe you." He repeated softly. She was about to drawl that, well, that was his problem, when he spoke up again, cutting her off though his words were slow and careful. "If you don't talk about things, they build up and up inside of you, and they start to hurt, you know?"

Haruhi just stared blankly at him, silently refusing to cooperate.

"It's better if you talk about it." He prompted. "Tell me what you're thinking, Haruhi."

She stayed silent.

"I mean…" Kaoru frowned, growing flustered at the face of her deadpan stubbornness. If it was Hikaru, he would've at least gotten some half-baked response to work with by now. He tried again desperately. "Because I want you to talk to me, Haruhi. If you have something on your mind that you're trying to ignore, you won't be able to enjoy yourself today. So neither will Hikaru. Please talk to me. I need you to be happy."

And then he fell silent and watched her; watched the first, fat tear roll slowly down her face.

Her irrational wishes were held back and away from reality with a strong, sturdy rope. But that fallen tear seemed to have an edge like a samurai sword, and it cut painfully through her defences the moment she let it escape. Another one joined it, and then another, and suddenly everything was stampeding through, out into the solid world.

The next thing she knew, tears were tumbling clumsily down her face, dripping into her lap.

"I-" Her breath caught. Her independent pride held her weakness hostage from sympathy; she pressed her lips together into a shaky line.

After a pause, Kaoru moved forwards slowly and wrapped his warm arms around her, pulling her into his chest, as an older brother would do to his sister. The comfort was too much; the tears flowed faster as she finally spoke.

"I wish my mother was here." She whispered quietly, smothering her tears in his shoulder. "I wish she could be with me today. I wish she could have met everyone - met Hikaru. I- I wish she was here. I miss her."

Kaoru simply drew her closer in response, stroking her hair and humming sadly, as he listened to her words. After a few seconds, he heard her try to swallow shakily and, getting the panicking feeling that she was guarding herself again, quickly flailed around for something comforting to say.

"Of course you do." He spoke up quickly, and he felt her pause as she listened to him. He opened his mouth uncertainly to continue, but nothing came out.

_Ah, man. What am I saying? Roll with it, me. _Kaoru thought to himself wildly, proving that he truly was Hikaru's twin. _I had planned what I was going to say. What was it? I can't even remember. Jeeze. Think me, think._

"Of course you do." He repeated, trying to string together his thoughts. "She's your mother. Of course you want her with you on the day you get married. But Haruhi… don't stop yourself being sad." He drew back slightly to give her a firm look; she stared back at him, her eyes bright and bewildered with the aftermath of tears.

"You're allowed that. To be sad, and to cry. If you ever feel sad, cry to someone - Hikaru, me, your dad, whoever - just don't hold it in all on your own anymore. Because, sometimes… we can tell, Haruhi."

Haruhi blinked at him, slightly startled; she was unsure as to whom he was covering under the umbrella of 'we', but Kaoru ploughed on regardless.

"We can tell you're keeping stuff in and it makes us sad. We want you to be happy." He finished in a rush, before adding with an air of finality, as though this was what he had meant to say all along, "And you have me, Mom and Dad, and even grandmother. Not as a new family, but as additions to your family. Slightly insane additions, but additions nonetheless."

He paused and grinned. "Family care for each other, right?" He smiled, wiping her face with the back of his hand and winking, lightening the conversation instantly. "And I'd like to think you can talk to us."

Haruhi blinked at him for a second before she cocked her head slightly and finally mimicked his sincere smile. "Yeah…" She agreed, contently. "I guess I can."

"Good." He beamed at her, and then all of a sudden jumped up, clapping his hands together and abruptly ending the sombre mood with all the elegance of a true Hitachiin.

"You need to wash your face, Haruhi." He informed her impishly, brushing a thumb under her eye and showing her the wet beige smudge that appeared. "I only put a bit on, so it'll come off easily and we can start again."

"Ah, right." She jumped, frowning at her reddish eyes in the mirror as she quickly stood up and glanced in the direction of the small washroom. "Sorry about that, Kaoru."

He casually waved off her apology with an airy hand as he leant back on the table to wait. "No problem. I like doing it." He added with a smirk, and Haruhi rolled her eyes.

She was just at the doorway to the small side room when she paused and turned back to glance at Kaoru; he was still leaning against the table, absentmindedly rubbing his nose. He glanced up at her when she spoke, her tone light but sincere.

"Thank you, Kaoru."

He blinked for a few seconds, before his face split into a huge grin, his eyes twinkling. "Nothing to thank, little sister." He laughed airily. "Lucky I was here, ne?" Then a sudden thought occurred to him and he quickly glanced up at her again, adding hurriedly, "Ah, but, can I ask you a favour?"

Haruhi cocked an eyebrow, trying desperately not to be suspicious, though the twins' reputation preceded them. "I guess." She answered hesitantly. "What is it?"

"Can you… uh…" He paused and laughed sheepishly, pocketing his hands as he lost himself in his mind's eye for a moment. When he resurfaced, he smiled softly.

"Can you make sure you look after my brother for me?"

Haruhi snorted, exasperated by the completely serious look she was getting. _Honestly…_

"I promise." She pledged, rolling her eyes, bemused and fond. She turned to walk into the small washroom and added over her shoulder, her lips twitching slightly, "I would say that Hikaru's an adult and he can look after himself, but that doesn't really fit, does it?"

Kaoru sniggered. "Tell me about it."

Then Haruhi finally left to wash her face, leaving Kaoru to smirk about how offended Hikaru would be if he ever heard that comment.

Haruhi, after blinking at the unnaturally pristine washroom for a few seconds, finally located the white marble sink and started walking over to it, casting an incredulous glance over the bottles and lotions that lavished the room.

She just didn't understand how or _why _a _hotel room _would find so much stuff to spoil their already spoilt patrons with. With a single glance, Haruhi counted at least _eight _different shampoos lined up like solders, all specified to different types of hair; bottles for brunettes, bottles for blondes, bottles for waves and bottles for plain old bad hair days.

_Just… __**why**__? Does anyone even notice what kind of __shampoo__ people use? It seems so… pointless._

She sighed dramatically.

Rich people were an endless mystery.

Not that you had to be rich to care about what you put on your hair, but Haruhi seemed to be content ignoring that fact.

Oblivious to the fine attention to detail beautifying the sink, Haruhi stuck the plug in and slowly turned the tap, flicking her fingertips under the stream quickly to check the temperature. She watched as the water began to pool at the bottom of the sink, every ripple catching onto the soft light.

"_I wish my mother was here… I miss her."_

She sighed again softly, the air brushing lightly against her lips.

Talking to someone about that had been… strange. Difficult. But remarkably, she felt better. It was as if a cold, hard weight had been lifted and in its place was a light feeling of pure relief.

Haruhi was just softly dipping a flannel into the lukewarm water when a sudden _bang_ resounded from the other room, followed immediately by the obnoxious and irritated voice of Mei, finally making her entrance.

"My _God_, Haruhi, I- **you**!"

"Me." Kaoru's voice agreed cheerfully as if he had been expecting her, and Haruhi had to roll her eyes at how happily provoking he sounded, even to her. She suddenly got the distinct feeling that the younger Hitachiin twin somehow had a hand in Mei's late appearance.

"You told me the wrong room, you _prat_!" Mei fumed angrily, her insult emphasised by another _bang_ as she threw what Haruhi hoped was her bag down. "I knew she was here! I've just been looking around the _entire_ hotel!"

"That was silly." Kaoru noted wisely, earning a loud groan from Mei.

"I _swear_, you…!" She suddenly huffed dismissively. "God, whatever. Where's Haruhi?"

"Remembered that I'm your boss?"

"You're not my freakin' boss!"

"Yet." Kaoru cheerfully added for her, sniggering under his breath as Mei grumbled.

Spotting Mei's inspiration and drive for fashion, the twin's mother had got her a job and an apprenticeship with one of the smaller branches of Hitachiin Co.. Mei, of course, had been utterly delighted and threw herself into it completely. The only drawback to the job was that eventually, Yuzuha Hitachiin wouldn't be the head of the company.

Hikaru and Kaoru would.

And Mei was _dreading_ that day.

"So, where is she?" Mei repeated loudly, and Haruhi (who was scrubbing off the last of her make-up as fast as she could) heard her click her tongue impatiently. "We've really got to hurry up. And _you_ can get out. Go latch onto your brother or something."

"So rude." Kaoru mock-sighed dramatically, winking at Haruhi as she finally walked back in.

Mei spotted her and quickly gave her a half-grin before bluntly explaining that she was sorry that she was late, but it was wasn't her fault. It was, in her words, 'all _this_ moron's fault'. Through her hair and make-up was already beautifully done - though she admittedly looked a bit stressed - she was still sporting casual wear, her dress draped on the bed and waiting next to Haruhi's.

"I'll be going then." Kaoru announced, casually shrugging on his jacket ("Good." Mei snorted.) "Hikaru's probably having a panic attack or killed Tono or something. See you later, Haruhi." He added with a grin.

Haruhi smiled slightly at him, though she couldn't help the small frown that instantly took over her features when she wondered at the thing which had been nagging at the back of her mind since Mei had walked in.

Why had Kaoru purposely made Mei late? Just for laughs? That wasn't entirely impossible, but if he went to do what Mei had been going to do anyway, it seemed downright pointless.

Was he just desperate to do her make-up? As weird as that sounded, it was very likely with the doting friends she had. But he didn't seem upset that Mei had arrived to take his place, and he'd been using her as a model ever since he announced that he was designing her dress, all those months ago.

So, what was the point of stealing that extra 15 minutes with her?

"_If you've got something on your mind that you're trying to ignore, you won't be able to enjoy yourself today. So neither will Hikaru. Please talk to me. I need you to be happy."_

"_You need to wash your face, Haruhi. I only put a bit on, so it'll come off easily and we can start again."_

"_Lucky I was here, ne?" _

She blinked, slightly stunned, and looked over at the youngest twin. Kaoru caught her eye just before he left and grinned, wiggling his fingers in a wave.

"_Family care for each other, right?" _

Haruhi went to say something, overcome by the rush of fondness that swelled up in her chest, but he had already left, off to find Hikaru. Mei complained obnoxiously about him again before grabbing her wrist and forcing her down onto the dressing table chair, brandishing a blusher brush like a deadly weapon.

Haruhi went along with it without protest (for once), and found herself repeatedly glancing over to the lovingly designed dress on the bed, her heart pounding. The very thing that had been dragging her down all day now seemed to be pulling her up, higher and higher.

Nothing was holding her back anymore.

* * *

Dear Mother in Heaven,

I'm getting married today, to the person I love. He and his family are complicated - and sometimes I want nothing more than to punch them - but he's very loving, and his brother's very sweet.

They're precious to me. You'd like them.

I know, as Dad repeatedly assures me whenever I go to see him, that you're happy for me.

… I'm happy for me, too.

* * *

"Hey Hika-"

"**Kaoru**! What the _hell_? You took ages!"

"Sorry, I just-"

"Hunny's been eyeing up the wedding cake, Kyouya keeps telling me we're going to be late, and Tono's started crying and practically _raped_ me _five times_!

"I just-"

"_**Five times!**_"

"Alright, alright! Chill, okay? I'm here now and I promise everything will work out. Okay? Relax."

"…Okay."

"Good. Anyway, we can start going to the church now and get everyone seated. The car's waiting out there."

"Right… okay. Ah, I'm really nervous… Ah, _shi_-"

"Hikaru! Don't swear on your wedding day! It's bad for the soul~"

"What the _fu-_?"

"Hikaru!"

"For _fu_-!"

"_Hika_!"

"_Blood_-"

"_Quit_ it!"

"Ah-! _Freaking Jupiter_!"

"…"

"…"

"…What was _that _supposed to be?"

"I… don't know. I was trying not to swear!"

"…Right. Well, if you're finished cursing Jupiter, let's go get you married~!"

* * *

**It continues~! Yey? XP I hope you liked this chapter, and I hope it wasn't too long… The chapters seem to be growing… That won't continue. Hopefully. ;;**

**I'm really super sorry, but the updates won't be as fast for this story. I shouldn't actually be writing at all, I should be revising… My exams are in a week… Heh. Wish me luck~ (+.+);;**

**Thank you very extremely much for reading! :D**

**All reviewers get a free Kaoru plushie~ Perfect for huggles~ You know you want to~ ;]**


	4. Weddings, Dances, and Fatty Tuna

**Weddings, Dances, and Fatty Tuna

* * *

**

A leaf, tugged by the warm, caressing breeze, fell just as a car parked in front of a loved and weathered church, barely a hundred yards away.

It fell in tiny, fluttering circles, like a ripe maple seed, until it gently touched the picturesque pond beneath. As it landed, ripples spread over the glass-like surface of the water, making the mirror-image quiver; lush emerald trees, delicate ruby chrysanthemums and fluffy ivory clouds shook and glittered in the July sun.

It hadn't even settled before soft music began to float into existence.

It was the wedding march.

Inside the church, in front of a crowd of exited whispers and turning heads, Hikaru Hitachiin stared solidly ahead of him and sweated. As in, seriously sweated. And when the music started, it only got worse.

_Oh-my-God-Oh-my-God-Oh-my-God._

For all intents and purposes, he _looked_ flawless; the perfect groom, not a styled hair out of place, gold cat-like eyes shining bright with anticipation. He didn't however, _feel _quite as flawless.

He swallowed and fiddled distractedly with his gold cufflinks, trying mentally to smother the restless energy surging though his veins. His heart pounded loudly as he listened to Kaoru, who was standing next to him in his rightful best man position, mutter quietly to him, "Hika, rein in the last second panic attack. Nothing's going wrong, bro; she's right there!"

_She's right there._

Haruhi was an aisle distance away from marrying him and becoming his forever.

_Oh. My. God. _

It was really happening, finally, right now, this second.

It was what he wanted more than anything, but for some reason he couldn't stop the nerves from making his insides feel like they'd just been squashed into a blender and set to pulverise. It must be the immensity of it, Hikaru reasoned wildly to himself. He was giving his entire life away to that one person and, in return, was receiving their own precious life to cherish and care for.

No matter how much he craved it, that sort of commitment was still downright scary.

He licked his lips nervously, restlessly tugging his jacket to smooth down some non-existent wrinkles and mentally cursing the idiot behind him who was cooing at Haruhi's entrance like a demented pigeon.

It sounded like Tamaki. The moron.

For the first time, Hikaru was glad that, instead of a big, press-filled, extravagant wedding like the types he had been to, Haruhi had convinced him to tone it down and, for her sake, make it a little more private. The guest list was personal and limited and the venue was a beautiful but small church. Though of course, evidence of money's touch was everywhere; the designer clothes, the elegant flower arrangements, the classy renovations courtesy of Hitachiin co.

It suddenly struck him that the subtle mix of their worlds, two things that shouldn't match but did, rather fitted the two of them.

He swallowed again and, hearing the steady sound of slow footsteps behind him getting closer and closer, finally turned round in a burst of courage, resisting a weird urge to grab onto his twin's hand to smother his ungrounded panic.

His eyes found her instantly.

And, all at once, he wasn't nervous anymore.

Because there was Haruhi, his Haruhi, his dear almost-wife, standing right there, so close he would soon be able to touch her.

She smiled warmly, looking slightly relieved that he had finally turned round to her and stopped showing the classic cold feet symptoms. Her face, clear from her short chocolate hair thanks to a few artistic hair clips, was flushed and rosy and her eyes were bright and almost giddy, their usual stoic emotion now so deep and translucent he felt as if he could get lost in them all over again.

She was beautiful. So beautiful, he couldn't help but grin in delight as the music prompted her to take the last few rhythmic steps to his side - in flat shoes no less, as Haruhi didn't _do_ heels.

He was so lost in pure elation as he watched her that Hikaru genuinely didn't even notice whose arm Haruhi had tucked hers into as she walked down the aisle. He only noticed when the red-haired, red-eyed father in question roughly grabbed his hand. It was, of course, an age-old tradition for the father to place his daughter's hand in her husband-to-be's, a symbol of finally giving her away for someone else to look after.

Ranka however, still wasn't too happy about it all, and seemed to be trying to crush Hikaru's hand painfully as he moved their hands together, so slowly it looked regretful.

Hikaru winced and, trying to keep the smile frozen on his face, finally looked away from Haruhi to glare at his almost-father-in-law, just to find him glaring straight back. There were a few awkward moments as the two stared each other down, the silence broken only by an impatient cough from the audience and Haruhi's exasperated huff.

Hikaru furrowed his brow, determined to keep stubbornly glaring until he stopped crushing his hand, when he suddenly remembered Ranka's words from the day before.

"_I have nothing against you two being together - if she's chosen you, then there's nothing I can do about it. But if you make her anything less than completely happy, Hitachiin, I'll hunt you down and castrate you with the bluntest object I can find. Got that?"_

And the scary thing was, he really couldn't put it past him.

Wisely deciding that he didn't _really_ want to risk being chopped up into little pieces by his father-in-law, Hikaru sheepishly broke his gaze and looked back to Haruhi instead.

Satisfied, Ranka nodded smugly and, to Hikaru's utmost relief, finally stopped crushing his hand. In truth, Ranka did _like_ the oldest Hitachiin, but anyone that took his baby girl away from him was instantly placed in the same boat of 'I-hate-you-you-are-my-enemy-stay-away-from-my-beloved-daughter'.

He paused and glanced over at her, but she wasn't looking at him; her eyes were glued to her fiancé, soft and warm with affection. He recognised those eyes, large and brown, full of genuine, purposeful love.

Ranka stared at her for another second before, smiling slightly, finally placing her hand in his.

Their hands instantly clasped together. Haruhi gave him a weary look that seemed to say, God, I think that was the longest five minutes of my life, and Hikaru smirked back sheepishly. They stared at each other for another second before turning simultaneously towards the alter.

Hikaru heard someone sniffle behind him, apparently caught up in that touching emotion found at weddings that for some reason, people like to cry about. At first he thought, as he heard them sniffle again, that it was Ranka or Tamaki again, or maybe even his mother.

He almost burst out laughing when he realised it was Kaoru.

* * *

From the fateful moment Haruhi said 'I do' and pressed her lips against her husband's for the first time, everything seemed to happen very fast.

She was propelled outside and blinded by the loud flash of cameras, being pulled here and there to capture the moment with various people as fast as possible. She was yanked into countless different hugs and pelted at with confetti bombs before Hikaru was suddenly pulling her into their car for their long ride to the reception. She couldn't even catch her breath then, as her mouth found better things to do than breathe.

At the reception - which was at a classily designed venue that, according to Hikaru, wasn't enormous at all and Haruhi must just have a problem with her eyes - things began to slow down, just a little.

Though she was beginning to get a little hungry, before dinner they had to go around and greet people who had been invited just for the reception. This was mainly associates of Hitachiin co. and a few vaguely friendly colleagues from Haruhi's law firm, very few of which they were particularly interested in striking a conversation with.

As they made polite small talk, Haruhi noticed that a few of the richer, more old-fashioned businessmen seemed to avoid looking at her; they concentrated all of their attention on Hikaru, congratulating him as if he had just got married to himself.

It was as if they thought that if they looked at her, they couldn't trust themselves not to say in slight disgust, _But why __**her**__? What a thing, for the top to marry the bottom._

She tried not to let this bother her.

Whenever someone so obviously snobbish had left them however, Hikaru always bent down and, annoyed that anyone could think anything demeaning of his Haruhi, hissed some scandalous secret about the person in question to her - as if to prove that, in reality, there were just a bunch of ignorant hypocrites.

"I honestly don't care, Hikaru." Haruhi snorted, rolling her eyes each time. "If I let them get to me, I'd be worthy of what they say. And you shouldn't say things like that about them anyway, even if it is true."

Hikaru would just shrug and kiss her temple lovingly.

After dinner was the first dance - and for the first time, as Haruhi placed her arms delicately around Hikaru's neck, time seemed to slow.

The world was a bubble of colour and it shrank until everything but them was dark; she couldn't even hear the music. The two of them was all that existed. She breathed, and the air was full of his scent.

"You look totally drugged up, Haruhi." Hikaru breathed teasingly into her ear, smirking slightly as she frowned at him.

"You look drugged up yourself." She retorted, completely unromantic. There was a pause before she added wisely, "Too much wine."

"Probably. One whole glass. However am I still standing?"

Hikaru sniggered happily as she wrinkled her nose adorably, annoyed at his teasing. The song was slowly coming to an end and, as he could see Ranka hovering at the sidelines, anxious to steal her back for the father/daughter dance, he decided to take it upon himself to add a bit more romance; Haruhi obviously wasn't going to.

He swirled her round for the last time and smiled, almost shy.

"I love you, Mrs. Hitachiin."

"God, that sounds weird - 'Mrs Hitachiin'." Haruhi drawled before, seeing Hikaru's obvious pout, she smiled.

"I love you too."

And then the song ended and everyone was clapping and Ranka quickly captured his daughter clumsily for the next dance and there was a cry of protest from Tamaki whom Ranka had violently kicked out of the way. Hikaru was left to dance with his mother and Mei and a few other people who weren't Haruhi.

He was just escaping the dance floor, feeling a bit tired of dancing and childishly irritated about the fact Haruhi was paying more attention to the buffet table's fruit salad at the moment than him, when a distinctly male hand grabbed his arm for the next dance. Hikaru paused, then, realising who it was with a rush of relief, grinned over at them.

Kaoru beamed back at him.

"How mean Hika." He mock-pouted, entwining their fingers and looking like a sulky three-year-old. "You're going to dance with everyone but me? I feel so used. _Used and abused_." He added for emphasis with a dramatic sigh.

"_Ah_, Kaoru… If I could, I would dance with no-one but you…" Hikaru purred teasingly, wrapping an arm around his twin's waist with a wink.

Their act had turned into something that only half needed an audience to delight or disgust; they were a walking example that old habits die hard, so you might as well have fun with it.

"What a thing to say on your wedding day, Nii-san!" Kaoru gasped, causing them both to snort in laughter.

Haruhi, who was just being dragged back to the floor by an excitable Huni, glanced over at them. They had their arms round each other, stepping rhythmically in slow circles, and were muttering comments into each other's ears, smirking. With anyone else, such intimacy would seem decisively weird, but with the closely bonded twins, nothing seemed more normal or more natural.

They laughed and she smiled warmly.

Hikaru suddenly glanced up and caught his wife's eye; he grinned and winked teasingly as Kaoru laid his head on his shoulder. Haruhi rolled her eyes fondly before going back to trying to keep up with Huni.

The twins danced for a while, holding each other close and oblivious to the passing of songs or the wary glances of some of their less personal guests. Despite everything being such a long time coming, it was still amazingly strange that one of them was securely married, while the other was the complete opposite, gone back to being a bachelor.

It was something concrete and unyielding between them and for the first time they understood that their lives would always be that much more separate. Their top priority could no longer just be each other.

It was scary, really scary, growing up and being different, able to be close but never allowed to once again be one - because Hikaru's other half was no longer his twin.

But it was okay. Happiness was so close, so easy to have. They just had to keep holding onto it tight, and stay as close as two separate beings could be. As long as they were happy, then _this_ was alright. This solid separation. It was alright. _As long as he's happy._

Hikaru heard a sniffle.

"Are you blubbering again?" He teased lightly. "Honestly Kao, you're such a cry baby."

Kaoru sniffed again and pouted. "I am not." He insisted firmly.

And he wasn't. Honest. Kaoru tried to think of times when he had _actually_ cried off the top of his head, determined not to find many.

There was only that time when he and Hikaru broke up… and when they made up again… and when Huni and Mori graduated… and when Tamaki and Kyouya graduated… and when _they_ graduated… and when he watched _The Notebook_… and when-

Kaoru suddenly decided that the best course of action to preserve what little masculinity he had left was to stop thinking about crying and nuzzle his twin's neck instead. Not that that was a very _masculine _alternative, but it did make him feel better.

"I'm just really happy for you." He mumbled into his hair. "The tears are an unwanted side-effect. Totally not my fault."

"Sure, sure." Hikaru sniggered, holding him closer and smiling fondly. "Love you, Kaoru."

"I love you too, Hikaru."

As Kaoru closed his eyes, feeling unaccustomedly weary, Hikaru suddenly realised that they had stopped moving in circles long ago; now they were just sort of cuddling in the corner of the dance floor, away from everyone else and looking, he guessed from the thrilled looks on a few girls' faces, decidedly intimate.

Snorting to himself, he tapped his brother on the shoulder and nodded over to a group of gossiping daughters-of-business-partners. "Look at them. It's like being back in the host club - bet you anything they're talking about us having some incestuous affair."

Kaoru glanced over at them and rolled his eyes dramatically, smirking. "Honestly. Can't even hug without being accused of having some hot twincestuous tendencies. For being high-class girls, they sure have their mind in the gutter a lot."

"Got that right."

The younger twin suddenly laughed and, untangling himself from his brother, pointed over his shoulder to the buffet table. "Speaking of affairs," he sniggered, eyes twinkling, "You better go and entertain your cute little wife. She looks like she's about to elope with that piece of fatty tuna."

"That was fast." Hikaru snorted, before quickly looking round for himself.

And sure enough, there was Haruhi, practically drooling over a piece of her beloved fatty tuna with a look of total dazed bliss on her face. He laughed and, waving a quick goodbye to Kaoru (who decided to go and annoy Kyouya), walked slowly over to her, making sure she couldn't see him. Though he needn't have bothered making an effort to sneak up on her, as she was in no state to notice him.

Haruhi was in her fatty tuna filled happy place.

She was just about to take another wonderful bite when, like so many other times, the high-class sushi was promptly grabbed from her hands and replaced with a wickedly smirking face.

"Hey sweetheart." Hikaru grinned teasingly, sniggering at her pout as she frowned at her empty hand - even now, they always seemed to be taking her fatty tuna away. Always, always, always.

Sighing, Haruhi reigned herself to the fact Hikaru had the childish habit of capturing her attention by simply removing all other competitors, and she laughed in bemusement as he lent over and kissed her nose. He lingered a few seconds longer than needed, an inch from her face, relishing the feel of her there, before he moved back and happily entwined their fingers. "So, what've you been doing while I was with Kaoru, oh wife of mine?"

_Wife. _He was never going to tire of saying that.

Haruhi wrinkled her nose, unimpressed. "Being forced to dance with about ten other people, you were taking so long." She complained bluntly. "What were you two talking about?"

"You know... guy stuff." He stated, casually ticking them off with his free hand. "Crying, incest and love."

"…That's 'guy stuff'?"

"Of course!" He exclaimed, gasping in fake astonishment as he rolled his eyes self-mockingly. "I mean, what other _manly men _do you know who don't like to cuddle and talk about their hidden girly emotions?"

He gave her a questioning look and she paused, actually thinking about it. Manly men…

Why could she suddenly only think of Hikaru and Kaoru, designing dresses and putting flowers in each other's hair, her father, showing off his new make-up, and Tamaki, being… Tamaki. And even when she thought to the rest of her friends, they all seemed to be plagued with… girly moments.

Like the Zuka club incident.

She gave him a deadpan stare and stated plainly, "I know no manly men."

"Ouch, Haruhi. Way to crush the ego."

Haruhi scoffed - like anything she could say would crush _his_ almighty ego - and Hikaru grinned and ran his fingers delicately through the ends of her hair. She found herself subconsciously leaning towards the warmth of his hand.

"You know…" He commented slowly. "I didn't think I'd say this, but as beautiful as your hair looks now, I think I actually prefer your usual 'barely-brushed' style. With all this hair spray and stuff in it, I can't run my hands through it." He tugged lightly on one strand, which, though she'd let it grow slightly longer since her cross-dressing days, still barely reached the base of her neck. "I just want to grab them all out and ruffle your hair."

He let his hands hover threateningly over the hidden hairgrips to make his point, and Haruhi snorted incredulously. She wasn't even going to _start_ pointing out how contradictory he was being - who was it who was whining that he wanted her to get dressed up?

"Moron." She confirmed fondly.

He grinned and dipped his lips to hers.

Haruhi wasn't very good at expressing emotions like love or affection; though she might think it, things like 'I missed you so much' and 'I love you more than anything else in the world' would never pass her lips if she had anything to do about it. She subconsciously gave everyone the same stoic, blunt treatment, which sometimes almost made her seem unfeeling and cold - but she wasn't.

She expressed such deep feelings with a sincere subtlety, with a smile or a crinkle of her eyes. Hikaru had long learnt not to be upset when she forgot St. Valentines or never made him a bento without him begging, because she'd take his hand quietly and smile and he'd understand and instantly forget such material things.

Because, in that moment, just the fact she was there would mean the world to him.

They broke apart and Haruhi squeezed his hand tightly. He understood, smiling, and squeezed it back.

_I love you.

* * *

_

**Um… yeah, this chapter took a **_**long**_** time to write, and I don't even think it's that good… I apologise! -hangs head in shame- But it my defence, it was the **_**hardest **_**thing to write **_**ever**_**. My soul flew away a few times and my head almost exploded. I wrote the next two chapters while trying to get **_**inspiration **_**for this chapter. Really this should have been the first chapter I planned…;;**

**So yeah, I'm really sorry, and I'm going to stop grovelling now. **

**8D**

**Oh wait, yeah, and I'm sorry it's a western style wedding and not Japanese. Okay, end of grovelling.**

**I hope you liked it! Thank you a million to everyone who has reviewed and has been reading my humble story up to here. You're all amazing and should bask in your own awesomeness! :D**

**All reviewers get some yummy fatty tuna~~**

**xx**


	5. A Banana Sandwich

**A Banana Sandwich

* * *

**

Haruhi groaned as the toilet flushed. Waking up to vomit her dinner was not the way she wanted to start her day. While washing up, Haruhi tried to think of reasons why she was feeling so sick lately. She was about to deem it unexplainable when a thought crossed her mind… But she quickly dismissed it.

_No. It can't be that. It can't. Well… technically it can, very easily, but even so… _

Haruhi shook her head slowly to rid the thought and wiped her freshly washed mouth with a towel. Sighing, she walked out of the bathroom and leaned wearily against the doorframe to her and Hikaru's bedroom. She needed a distraction. Anything would be better to think about than…than _that_.

Stepping into the bedroom she slowly looked around before her eyes landed fondly on their desk, which was littered with photos. They were mostly of their honeymoon, which they had come back from last week.

While Hikaru was happily putting them up, he had explained that it was so they could 'extend the honeymoon period for as long as possible'. He had, however, had the idea after visiting Tamaki, so Haruhi guessed that he had simply got himself worked up again after one of the blonde's long 'I'm-so-romantic-listen-to-what-I've-done' rants.

She allowed herself to smile softly as she looked over them, one by one.

There was one of Haruhi being reluctantly dragged to the pool and another of Hikaru asleep, his face dopily content. Hikaru had been sure to place his favourite in pride of place, right in the centre; it was one of both of them, overlooking the flourishing gardens at the Hitachiin summer house. They were standing chastely next to each other but, a second before the picture was taken, Hikaru, being Hikaru, had crashed his lips to hers.

He sniggered whenever he saw it, and deemed her startled and flustered look 'adorable~'.

Haruhi's favourite photo was the only one not boasting the warm Atami sun. It was a homey and cluttered picture, of when she and the twins had went to visit her father for dinner. Ranka was simpering over her cooking while she was stifling a laugh at Hikaru, who was glaring at the person behind the camera, half a bread roll hanging out of his mouth.

_My family. _

She looked at it fondly for a few moments before her smile faltered as her mind began to unwillingly dwell on her earlier thoughts. An uncomfortable feeling of anxiety swelled in her chest and she wrapped an arm around her waist.

All the signs pointed to that but… She _had_ tried a lot of foreign food when they were away, thanks to Hikaru. Maybe Greek cuisine just didn't agree with her system or something.

_Yeah,_ she thought firmly, trying to make it sound reasonable to herself. _The food. Of course, it could be the food. I'm just overreacting. _

Ignoring the snide voice at the back of her head pointing out that she never overreacted, Haruhi straightened herself up and randomly decided that she was hungry. And so she should be, after puking up her dinner and not eating breakfast that morning.

Swallowing again, she walked purposely towards the kitchen and set to work (she refused to have a maid, much to her husband's dismay). Apart from having the phrase 'light lunch' firmly in her mind, Haruhi didn't really think about what she was making; she was comfortable enough in the kitchen to just be on autopilot and let her hands fly around the kitchen of their own accord.

Vaguely noting that she wanted sandwich, Haruhi's thoughts continued to uncharacteristically wander as she prepared her lunch.

_Is this really a concern to miss work over?_ She mused with a sigh. _What on earth's wrong with me? I've never done that before. After I've already had a week off as well… I can't miss days, even if I am worried about… this. Maybe I should take a free day off as an advantage and try to get an appointment at the hospital… Just to check…_

She paused as an image of the family photo rose up in her mind again and she bit her lip. It wasn't as if she didn't want this eventually - _eventually_ - but as it was, it was a bit sudden. It might be nothing but…

_If I am… would it really be so bad? It might be nice…_

Haruhi shook her head hurriedly and almost laughed at how ridiculous her thoughts were. Honestly, she was jumping to conclusions. A day or two late wasn't that uncommon, and being sick in the morning didn't instantly mean that.

Satisfied with that reasoning, as she was keen to keep her life as predicable as possible for now, Haruhi nodded firmly to herself and looked down at her food. And then, for the first time, she realized what she had made - the same thing she had been subconsciously making herself all week.

A banana sandwich.

Her mouth fell open in stunned realization as all doubt was suddenly erased.

"Oh, **crap**."

* * *

Kaoru sighed and leant back in his office chair, pouting as he stared at his desk.

Ah… paperwork. How he hated it. It wasn't even anything remotely interesting; just mind-numbingly dull accounts that needed looking over. Hikaru could zoom through it all no problem, but with Kaoru, it was like trying to wade through mud. All those dreary numbers just made his head hurt. Actual _designing_ however, he could do for hours on end.

With another melodramatic sigh, he absentmindedly sipped his coffee, mentally willing himself to gain any motivation at all for the boring-looking files in front of him.

On the bright side, there wasn't much left for him to do today, apart from the dreaded accounts of doom. Hikaru would be back soon from sitting in on their Mother's meeting, and then they'd probably end up going back to his and Haruhi's penthouse together and pigging out on all the most cavity-inducing food they could get their hands on.

But then Kaoru would have to make the long, lonely, _woeful_ trek back to his own flat.

One whole floor away from his brother's.

Moving away from his twin had been hard, but he'd managed it, somehow.

Wrinkling his nose and coming to the intelligent conclusion that - sadly - the accounts weren't going to do themselves, he finally lent forward and pulled them closer. Ugh, they were worse than he thought. Numbers, numbers, numbers. He hadn't even gotten halfway down the first page however, when a god-given saviour came to rescue him.

In the form of an annoying techno jingle.

_Ring ring ring-ring-ring~! Ring ring ring-ring-ring~!_

Kaoru blinked at his vibrating phone for a second before his face lit up in a delighted grin and he grabbed it.

"Hurray for distractions~" He murmured happily to himself as he clicked it on, not even bothering to check who it was. Heck, he didn't even care if it was his _Grandmother _calling.

Anything to delay the nightmare-inducing accounts of headaches and ultimate boredom.

"Hello?" He chirped, leaning back and getting comfortable again in his plush office chair (it was at times like this that he had to agree with Kyouya when he commented that the twins were too laidback to be the budding presidents of a billion yen company).

"Ah, uh, hey Kaoru."

His mouth fell open.

"_Haruhi_?"

He beamed widely when he heard a small, affirmative mutter of 'yeah…'.

"Since when do you call people while you're at work? I think this might actually be a first." He teased. "Did you remember how to work the phone?"

"I'm not at work." She explained, and Kaoru instantly caught onto how weary and un-amused she sounded. He frowned worriedly as she added, "I wasn't feeling well."

She didn't _sound _well either.

"That doesn't usually stop you." He pointed out, concerned. "What's wrong? Are you still ill? Do you have a fever? Does Hikaru know? Have you been to the-"

"If you let me get a word in," she quickly spoke up, finally interrupting his bombardment of worries. Kaoru was relieved to hear her laugh quietly before she continued. "Hikaru had to leave early, so he thinks I'm at work. And I'm not that ill really. Well, I mean… Not in that sense of the word. Just… worried, I guess. Or…"

Her words drifted off uncertainly and Kaoru found himself staring at the phone in amazement. Since when did Haruhi… _babble_? Something must definitely be wrong.

"What's wrong, Haruhi?" He said in his best 'serious' voice, his work now completely forgotten (he liked his work that way).

She sighed dismissively. "Nothing's _wrong_." She insisted firmly. "It's just… confusing, I guess. Strange. It might be nothing, but you know, if it is… well, I'm kind of getting used to the idea."

"…Huh?"

"It's a bit sudden though."

"…Um."

"I hope you're not busy, but…"

"Yeah…?"

"I need a favour."

"Eh? Could this actually be _the point _we're getting to here?"

He laughed sheepishly as Haruhi huffed, irritated at his apparently insensitive approach to her rare confusion. Deducing that Haruhi wasn't at death's door after all, and feeling decisively better because of it, Kaoru relaxed back into his chair and took a slow gulp of his syrup-filled coffee (the twins had recently become addicted to coffee syrup, especially combined with almighty instant coffee) as his sister-in-law spoke up again.

"Uh…" She began wittily, her unusual hesitancy causing his eyebrow to twitch. "I was wondering if you'd be able to take me to the hospital."

Kaoru instantly wished he hadn't taken that drink of coffee, as it suddenly ended up spat all over the floor.

"_Eh_? Why? You never want to go there! You could be dying and refuse to go! Omigod, _you're not dying, are you_?"

She sighed at his complete over-reaction and waited pointedly for a few seconds before he calmed himself down enough to ask sheepishly, "Err… So, why do you want the hospital?"

There was a few more seconds of silence as Haruhi - Kaoru guessed - steeled herself up for her next words. Then, "I think I might be pregnant."

It was lucky he hadn't been drinking any more coffee at that point.

"_EH? _Seriously! Really? Wow, that's-!" He suddenly bit his lip, cutting himself off before he could start babbling himself. Something along the lines of, 'Omigod, pregnant? As in baby? Omigod! Hika-and-Haru-baby? Uncle Kaoru? Uwah~!'

_Honestly_, he scolded himself, _mature twins aren't supposed to squeal. … In fact, guys in general aren't supposed to squeal. Damn fan girls were a bad influence._

"Uh… why do you think that, Haruhi?" He managed, if only to say something that didn't include the word 'omigod'. "Uh- Woman's intuition?"

Haruhi snorted. "No. Female biology, Kaoru." She drawled, amused and sounding comfortingly more confident now she had said her thoughts aloud to something that wasn't a banana sandwich. "Work it out."

Kaoru blinked, then, after a pause, blushed slightly. "Oh…okay." He muttered, pouting when he heard Haruhi start to chuckle. "Well, _I_ don't think about that sort of stuff, do I?" He added defensively, readjusting the phone at his ear.

She snorted again, then added absentmindedly, "But that isn't the only reason…"

"Oh?" Kaoru's ears perked up. "Do tell."

"Uh…" She muttered slowly. "Well, I… can't seem to stop eating… bananas…" She paused then added grimly, "And I hate bananas."

Kaoru burst out laughing.

After a few long moments, in which Haruhi retained an amused silence, he managed to control himself enough to reduce his guffaws to sniggers and splutter out, "Ha, aha… you have cravings for _bananas_? Heh, that's rich… ha…"

He coughed to stifle his laughs, still grinning wickedly as he said, "Of course I'll take you, Haruhi. It's no problem, I wasn't doing anything anyway." Accounts? What accounts? "By the way," he added slowly, frowning slightly, "it's not that I don't want to take you or anything, but why haven't you told Hikaru? I mean, it would be his too… don't you want him to take you to find out?"

Kaoru messed distractively with his cooling coffee as he listened to her sigh, quirking his eyebrows.

"I just don't want to tell him I'm pregnant if it turns out that I'm not…" She admitted hesitantly. "He'd be so…"

"Disappointed?" Kaoru offered, nodding sympathetically.

"No." She corrected bluntly. "_Annoying_."

"Wow, Haruhi… that's really mean…"

"I can just take a cab."

"No, no! I'll take you!" He insisted hastily, jumping up and abandoning his coffee. "You're at home, right? Go down to the lobby and I'll meet you in about ten minutes, okay?"

He shifted the mobile to his other hand and began searching a desk draw hurriedly for his personal car keys, feeling that this was an excellent opportunity to actually drive. Though both twins could drive and had each bought a luxurious car to congratulate themselves, they were barely ever used. Why bother driving when you had a personal chauffer to escort you wherever you went?

When the appeal of actually driving themselves had diminished, they could rarely be bothered. Luckily, Kaoru's forgotten car had been sitting for him in the office building where he was now - locked away, since their mother didn't trust car parks - so he could drive that, as he didn't see Haruhi in the mood to have a stoic-faced driver going along with them.

"Thanks, Kaoru." Haruhi said with a slow sigh. "I don't want to be a bother. I mean, I was going to go alone but-"

"But you shouldn't go alone." He added for her firmly, his tone lightly chiding. He suddenly sniggered and added lightly, "I'm glad you came to me, but you know, everyone's going to think _I'm_ the dad. Hikaru won't be happy."

"That's if there _is_ a baby in the first place."

"Mm-hmm." He smiled. "See you later, little sister."

"See you. Thanks again."

As Kaoru primly pocketed his phone, feeling slightly giddy, he gave his office one last searching glance. He had everything he needed and everything was as it should be for him to leave.

He narrowed his eyes.

Apart from those damn accounts that is.

Like hell were they going to delay him finding out about his possible uncle-hood - before the actual dad, no less. Which, now he thought about it, was going to be excellent fodder to use against his brother whenever he started teasing him about the fact Kaoru had to take his driving test twice.

After a few moments of thought, he grinned impishly and scooped them up before walking over to the door. Easing it open, he beamed and wiggled a few fingers at his secretary - the campest straight man Kaoru had ever met, which was saying something - who smiled and wiggled his fingers right back at him.

He placed his mobile, unabashed, next to him and chirped politely, "Anything I can do for you, Mr Hitachiin, sir?"

"Yeah, there is. Can you take these accounts and put them in Hikaru's inbox? If he asks about them, just say they're a present from me. 'Kay?"

* * *

**Hope you liked this chapter! :D I've written the next three already, so I'll post them in a few days. I hope you don't mind the direction I'm taking this story, but I really wanted to write this so… I did. 8D**

**And quick! Everyone glomp Mariel for being such an awesome beta-reader! o(^o^)/ She alone stopped this chapter from sucking. Cookies of thankyouness for her~ 8D**

**Please review! Every time you do, the chances of the Hitachiin twins coming to life ****doubles****!**

**xx**


	6. Move Over Sherlock

**Move over Sherlock  
**

* * *

Hikaru glared viciously at the flashing ascending numbers above the elevator doors and scuffed his heels in impatience. He huffed, his generally grumpy mood growing worse with every second that went by.

All he wanted to do was get home to his penthouse and whine to Haruhi about his boring day, but the elevator was insisting to move at a torturing slow pace. He was sure it was doing it on purpose, just to mock him. Perhaps it knew of his long day of repetitive meetings, fake politeness for people he didn't even like, and then finally a twin-less study and a suspiciously full inbox; he had to remember to ask Kaoru about that.

And by 'ask', obviously he meant pinning him down and tickling him mercilessly until he confessed.

Hikaru clicked his tongue obnoxiously when the elevator finally clunked to a stop and the metallic doors slid open with a happy '_ping~_'.

"_Finally_." He drawled, rolling his eyes dramatically before going to his door. "Damn elevator takes too damn-"

_BANG!_

He jumped back wildly as his front door suddenly burst open, barely missing his nose by an inch. Inside was none other than his twin, whose face split into a huge ear-to-ear grin the moment he saw him.

"Hika~!" Kaoru sang happily in recognition as his brother blinked at him.

"Kao-"

But before Hikaru could manage any more than that, Kaoru had grabbed his face and pressed his lips to Hikaru's cheek. Beaming happily at his confused look, Kaoru then began skipping off towards the elevator.

"I'm coming round for dinner later~" He called chirpily over his shoulder, wiggling his fingers in a wave. "Make me something nice~!"

"Um… okay?" Hikaru frowned at the closing metal doors in bewilderment before he finally snorted, bemused. _Either something really good's just happened… or all that syrup's finally gone to my little brother's head. _

Hoping it was the former - as Hikaru had just as big a weakness for syrup, in any form - he quirked an eyebrow and finally went inside.

The door opened straight into the main room; it served as the general living room, which was just as big as the whole of Haruhi's old apartment. He spotted Haruhi in the corner of the sofa, with her legs curled beneath her and her arms around her waist. She was giving the doorway a completely exasperated look, probably because of Kaoru's cheery outburst, but recovered enough to give her husband a weak smile as she muttered, "Ah… welcome home."

"Yeah… I'm home." Hikaru answered, frowning at the strange look forming on Haruhi's face; it was as if she had something to say but found it too odd to word aloud.

_Hmm… Haruhi looks like she's thinking about something and Kaoru seemed really happy about something… and I don't know what. _He mused on it and then, after a few intense moments, finally came to an intelligent conclusion._ I think they might have something to tell me._

Move over Sherlock.

"Kaoru was singing." He informed her, watching as Haruhi rolled her eyes, fingering the side of her jacket.

"I heard." She sighed.

Hikaru paused then added pointedly, "And he kissed me."

"…Okay."

"And then he started skipping."

"Right."

"All the way down the hall."

Haruhi snorted and rolled her eyes again, before standing up and moving next to him.

"Well, he did seem pretty thrilled by it." She reasoned to herself, before looking up and smiling at the suddenly frustrated look in Hikaru's eyes. "I didn't go to work today because I wasn't feeling well." Hikaru's face instantly fell, this being news to him, but before he could ask Haruhi continued. "I was going to ask you but I thought you'd be… too busy, so I asked Kaoru. He took me to the hospital."

"Eh? Really? Are you still ill?" Hikaru babbled in concern as he cupped her face and ran a thumb over her cheek, though he couldn't help noting that something seemed slightly off. He hesitated before adding slowly, "You don't… _look_ ill."

It was true; while she had been pale and nervous earlier, she was now rosy-cheeked and bright eyed. She smiled vaguely at him before saying, with a sense of careful purpose, "It can't really be called an illness. …I'm pregnant."

There was a few seconds of silence as Hikaru just stared blankly at her. Haruhi could practically see the 'loading' signal above his head.

She quirked an eyebrow pointedly and, as if that was a trigger, he suddenly jumped back to life, his face flushing as he grabbed her hands.

"_EH?_ R-really? Pregnant… _Baby!_ That's… Our baby? Omigod, that's-!" He bit his lip to cut himself off and Haruhi almost laughed at how alike the twins' reactions were; despite all their differences, their symmetry remained beautifully apparent.

Still, she couldn't help the rush of relief that flowed through her as she measured his reaction. The worst-case scenario she had envisioned was him being horrified by the prospect, exclaiming that it was too soon, too soon.

But as it was, the emotion he was trying to compress was clearly only joy.

As if to illustrate that point, Hikaru abruptly yanked her forward and pressed their lips together with a sudden passion. After a few long moments, he pulled away slightly and grinned happily.

"That's great. Really. I mean, a baby - a family. Wow. I'm-!"But he cut himself off for a second time and Haruhi blinked as a sudden worried look came over his face, his brow furrowed.

Haruhi raised her eyebrows as he pondered on whatever had suddenly occurred to him, but otherwise didn't show any sign of worry of what he could be thinking. Now that they were past the initial reaction, she could relax; she knew that anything Hikaru found to worry about now would most likely be completely pointless.

She had, after all, married an idiot.

Hikaru gave her a firm look. "But how do _you_ feel about it, Haruhi?"

A sweet idiot, but an idiot nonetheless.

"Well, it's a bit soon." Haruhi admitted truthfully, oblivious to Hikaru deflating slightly at her words. She continued mercilessly, "Though there's nothing wrong with having a child at twenty-two, I wanted a firmer foothold in my career before that. A child needs a lot of time devoted to it and I really need that time to start working on getting some big cases and a good reputation."

She paused thoughtfully before adding, "That's what I _did_ think." She elaborated, smiling slightly. "But then I realised that though managing both roles would be hard, my Mother did it, and I did balance schoolwork and the _host club_ for three years."

Hikaru wondered mildly whether he should be offended that she was comparing the whole host club to a whining newborn baby.

"So… it's not too soon?"

She sighed, amused. "I guess not. I wanted children sooner or later, but as it's _you_," (Hikaru smirked.) "I suppose sooner is inevitable."

He grinned impishly down at her and looped his arms around her waist, acutely aware for the first time that his arms were now wrapped around both his wife and his child. It felt nice. He laid his cheek against her hair for a second before murmuring carefully, just to make sure, "So… you _are_ happy?"

Haruhi laughed as she returned the gesture by wrapping her arms around him and Hikaru suddenly realised in amusement that, by Haruhi's standards, she was acting rather giddy.

"Yes, I'm happy." She confirmed, before sheepishly adding, "I'm actually looking forward to it."

Hikaru grinned at her. After a few moments however, that grin began to falter uncertainly until it finally fell away to a look of utter horror.

Haruhi, who had been expecting the horrified look of 'Oh-my-God-I've-just-realised-something-horrifying-and-terrible-that-was-blantedly-obvious-since-I-walked-in-the-door', was simply amused at how long it had taken to appear. Unconcerned, she let her mind wander to more important matters.

Namely, how many bananas did they have left in the house?

"Wait…" He spluttered in horror, staring at her incredulously. "Kaoru took you, so… _Kaoru_ knew about _my_ kid before _me_?"

"Seems so."

"_Kaoru_ was taking you to find out whether you were pregnant, while _I_ was at _work_, doing _his_ accounts?"

"I guess."

"_**Kaoru**__ knew about __**my**__ kid before __**me**_?"

"Oh, for god's sake. Yes, yes, Kaoru knew before you. When _doesn't_ he know something before you?"

"…"

"…"

"… Low blow."

"That's what I thought."

* * *

**Heh, this chapter was fun to write. I do love Hika being an idiot XD It'll get a bit more dramatic (?) later… hopefully;;**

**Now we can finally move onto the issue of Haruhi actually being pregnant. 8D Yey? As I haven't been pregnant myself, you'll have to forgive any slight inaccuracies. But I have researched it!**

**And yes, it did feel really weird to look up 'signs of pregnancy' while my mom was in the other room. O-o**

**Anyway, thanks very extremely much for reading and please review! 8D**

**xx**


	7. Dream

**Dream

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**

_The first half is in Haruhi's POV, while the second flips back to normal. ;]_**

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**

I am dreaming.

I dream that I am a mermaid, and I am underwater. Everywhere I look the blue water stretches to depths I can't even imagine, dark and immense and unknown, like looking into outer space. If I look up, I can just about see the glitter of light reflecting on the surface, a telltale sign of far-off sunlight and air.

"Breathe."

It's only when I hear that soft, poetic voice that I notice that I'm not alone. I turn and see that Tamaki, of all people, is floating beside me, smiling kindly. He's a mermaid too, with a long, elegant lime-green tail and a necklace of dainty shells.

He's tapping the side of his neck pointedly, where I suddenly see a row of delicate gills, fluttering as he breathes.

_He's teaching me how to breathe underwater._

The moment that thought forms in my head, I realise I'm straining to hold my breath. I instantly grab my mouth and nose in a panic, feeling the dusty, used air press sickeningly against my throat. I need to go the surface, I need to get to sweet air, but I can't move. I look at Tamaki in horror.

He smiles sweetly. "Breathe."

How?I_ can't. _

I slap a hand madly against my own neck, but there isn't anything there to help me survive in this mysterious blue world. I have no gills. I suddenly realise that I'm not a mermaid at all. I'm just plain, normal human, and I instantly feel a huge weight attach itself to something inside me, as heavy as an anchor.

I begin to sink.

My eyes find their way to Tamaki's and plead silently, helpless. He doesn't move at all, apart from to let his hand fall casually to his side, as relaxed as if I had simply said 'good morning' to him. His smile widens as he watches me die.

"Breathe." He repeats.

How? _How? _

_I can't breathe. Help me._

I'm falling faster and faster, and the pressure of the water is hard and painful against my skin. Tamaki seems far-off now and I can barely hear him as he laughs.

"You have to breathe." It sounds so simple.

I open my mouth.

I can't breathe; water rushes in and everything goes black.

The scene changes.

I am dreaming.

I dream that I am walking along a brightly lit pavement. There are old-fashioned lampposts every few feet, candles encased in iron swinging and shining above my head. I can see nothing around me apart from the cobbled pavement below, but somehow I can hear the sea, pushing gently against a shore.

The scene develops, like a rosebud opening its petals, and I now see that I'm not alone. My mother is walking beside me, not ghost or angel like, but just normally, and I'm carrying a baby in my arms. We seem to walk along that lonely path for a long time and as we go, we retain a content, eventless silence.

Then I suddenly notice that the baby I'm holding is getting heavier.

I try to tighten my hold and then I try shifting it to my other side but nothing helps. It just keeps getting heavier and heavier, until it's impossibly heavy, until it's straining every fibre in my arms; I feel like I'm carrying a huge lump of dead metal, like an anchor. It hurts. I can't walk with it.

I turn to my mother.

"I can't carry it." I say.

From the look on her face, you'd think she was expecting those words and was simply waiting for me to realise. She smiles at me softly and takes it from my arms easily, as if it's a doll. I look at her cuddling the child to her chest and suddenly feel very light, and very empty. I almost want to grab the baby back but then I think slowly, no, I'm not allowed.

It's too heavy anyway.

We carry on walking.

The sea is getting louder.

Then I stop. I don't know why I do, but I do. I stop and stay perfectly motionless in the middle of the pavement as my mother carries on walking, past me, along the cobbled path and into the whiteness.

I want to shout. I don't know why I don't, but I don't. I keep perfectly silent as, inside my head, I cry, wait, wait, wait. I can't see the baby anymore, please bring it back. I'm sorry. Come back. I want to see him, her, it.

_Whose baby is it?_

They carry on, until I can barely see them anymore; the white mist is enveloping them, separating them from me, taking them away. I feel very selfish as I watched them go longingly, wishing they'd stay, one arm raised to bring back-

_Whose baby is it?_

My eyes feel wet.

I can't see them; my arm falls and everything turns white.

I wake.

My eyes slide open sharply and easily, and the white textured ceiling of my bedroom materialises out of the gloom. Though I wake quietly, moving smoothly from dream to reality - the transition as easy as falling - my heart is anything but quiet. I have one hand clasped to my chest, attempting to stifle its frenzied hammering, and the other pressed over my eyes, trying to rid them of compressed tears.

I take a shallow breath and it comes out as a gasping sob.

_I can't breathe. Help me._

_Whose baby is it?_

_Oh-God-oh-God. Just a dream._

A tear breaks free; it rolls and tumbles down my face. I have no idea why I'm reacting like this.

I hate this irrational feeling, as I never, _ever_ get upset over a mere dream; in fact, I barely dream at all. Hikaru's the one who dreams every single night, occasionally disturbing me by waking up with a yell or muttering some half-baked sentences to himself.

_Hikaru. _

Swallowing shakily, trying to smother the tears that have no right to be there, I look over to my left.

And, of course, the person I love is right there. Hikaru, dopily content, with his lips fluttering around silent words and nose twitching slightly as he dreams about something amazing that he'll forget come morning. I watch him for a while, trying to slow my own scattered breathing so it matches the gentle rise and fall of his chest. Right now, with his reddish hair brushing the pillow and his face full of peace, his skin almost milky in the moonlight that's filtering through the slits of the blinds, he looks so beautiful.

He ruins the effect when he's awake and he opens his vulgar mouth of course, but right now, he's beautiful.

I still feel shaken and slightly upset by the dream as I watch him sleep, the tears still lingering behind my eyes. Goddamnit. I'm not used to feeling this stupidly emotional. I blame the hormones, completely and utterly.

Without deciding to, I suddenly inch forward into his warmth despite myself, placing a hand tentatively on his chest. Hikaru instantly mumbles something that sounds weirdly like 'I don't even like broccoli…' and subconsciously pulls me closer.

Well. I say 'pulls me closer'. He sort of cups his body closer to mine and flings an arm over me, sighing and making the hair on my brow flutter. He's still deep asleep, so I wonder whether this cuddling into the closest person to him is a subconscious habit he picked up from sleeping next to his twin for most of his life.

But whatever. His arms comfort me, so much more than they should. My eyes start to slide slowly closed when unexpectedly I feel something alien shift inside me. But the moment I register it, it's gone, and I don't know whether it was ever even there at all.

I'm upset again. I close my eyes and bury my face in his scent and suddenly my sanctuary, the circle of his arms, feels very, very small.

It's a long time before I fall into a shallow, dreamless sleep.

* * *

"Hey, Haru-darlin'?"

"Mmm?"

"You sure you're alright? You look like a zombie."

Haruhi tried to sigh at Hikaru's blunt questioning, but it came out as a long yawn instead; Hikaru raised his eyebrows pointedly, as if to say, _see, see? Totally zombiefied._

The two were inside the Hitachiin mansion, in one of the overly furnished living rooms, waiting on Hikaru's mother to appear - they had received an exited call from her last night ordering them both to come for dinner that night, or else, with love.

"I'm fine." Haruhi eventually managed to mutter. "I told you, I just didn't sleep well last night. It happens - nothing to worry about."

Hikaru quirked an eyebrow as he lent back comfortably on the maroon Victorian-style sofa and regarded her with a sceptical look. "But," he insisted persistently, unable to stop himself from pointing it out, "you were tired yesterday too. And the day before. _And_ the one before. Plus you said you slept fine then-"

"Well, excuse a pregnant woman for being tired!" She snapped back irritably, careful to keep her voice low to avoid anyone overhearing.

Though Hikaru was all for telling everyone from his friends to perfect strangers on the street that his wife was pregnant, Haruhi was a little more uncertain; she wanted to make sure the baby was healthy before telling the world. So, after an hour of reasoning against Hikaru's whines, he finally relented and they agreed to tell everyone at the 12-week point.

Obviously, Kaoru's knowing was unavoidable, but that hardly mattered; even if he hadn't known from the start, Haruhi guessed that Hikaru would have told his twin regardless.

Hikaru shrugged and made a neutral grunt at Haruhi's comment before reaching over and absentmindedly playing with a strand of her hair, to which she glared at him.

He huffed. "Fine. Sorry, sorry. Jeeze, I was just worried about you; you're so difficult, Haru-"

_BANG!_

Haruhi jumped as the door suddenly burst open, hitting the wall and revealing Yuzuha Hitachiin in all her glamorous splendour. She was beaming brightly, looking even more like her sons than usual, and her delicately lashed eyes shone when she spotted her daughter-in-law. She swept over and, to Haruhi's surprise, swooped down and kissed both of her cheeks.

"Welcome." Yuzuha smiled happily, pulling her up carefully so she could get a proper look at her. As always when she met her mother-in-law, Haruhi found her appearance being scrutinised by her expert eye, her clothes being tugged at slightly with her long nails. Hikaru watched on in amusement.

"But why are you wearing such a heavy jacket?" She spoke up primly, finally glancing over at her son for the first time and making a 'tut tut' noise. "Why are you letting her wear a heavy jacket, Hikaru? It's so warm outside today - we can't have her fainting or something like that, can we?"

As Haruhi hurriedly took off her jacket at Yuzuha's firm but well-meant insistence, Hikaru stood up too with a roll of his eyes as he muttered, "Like she listens to me…"

But his mother simply ignored that comment and made flapping motion with her hand in the general direction of the dining room.

"Shall we go through?" Yuzuha asked promptly, never one for wasting time. "Dinner won't be long. I've wanted to talk to you ever since I heard the news! I knew it would happen sooner or later. I was only about your age when I- oh, just put your jacket on the side, a maid will look after it."

But Haruhi didn't move and continued staring at her in blank confusion. She shot Hikaru a slightly accusing look but he just shrugged back at her innocently, looking bemused.

Yuzuha completely missed this interaction and was still walking slowly towards the door, a manicured finger to her cheek in thought. "Oh by the way, I don't want to be called 'grandmother' or anything like that; it sounds so old. And - what are you two doing still standing there?"

"Uh," Hikaru started, catching his wife's eye, "how do you know about Haruhi and stuff, Mom? We weren't going to tell anyone yet…"

She raised her eyebrows in surprise, but before she could say anything, fate answered for her; there was a noise at the door and a head cheerily popped round - and, of course, it was none other than Kaoru Hitachiin.

He smiled. "Ne, the starter's almost done and… why are people glaring at me?"

Kaoru blinked blankly and Hikaru began to snigger as he watched Haruhi huff, irritated. It was her fault, she supposed. With Kaoru being as exited as he had been, of course he was bound to tell someone unless she intervened - which she hadn't, believing he was mature enough to wait.

Apparently not.

"We didn't want to tell people yet, _Kaoru_." She drawled, testily. Kaoru's eyes widened in realisation and then he bit his lip as Haruhi narrowed her eyes. "Did you tell someone else too?"

"…Um." Kaoru let out a sheepish laugh and blushed slightly under Haruhi's accusatory glare. "Uh, well, I didn't know you wanted to keep it a secret… Ah, have you checked your phone yet today, Haru?"

"My phone? No, I turned it off."

"… Check your phone, and remember that you love me."

There was an expecting silence as Haruhi grabbed her jacket again, took out her phone, and hesitantly turned it on. Yuzuha was looking rather bemused, Kaoru guilty, and Hikaru was trying not to laugh, evilly amused at the fact he was getting his own way after all.

There was a chirpy 'bring' as the phone turned on.

Haruhi waited.

One second…

Two seconds…

Three seconds…

She looked up and was about to ask whether she had done something wrong (she could never quite get the hang of technology) when the mobile suddenly exploded into life as it was bombarded by texts, missed calls, and even more texts. Haruhi's mouth dropped open when she realised how many there were and she glared back up at the younger twin; Hikaru glanced over her shoulder at the small screen and burst out laughing.

**New missed call(s): 51  
New message(s): 128**

"How many people did you _tell_?"

"In my defence…" Kaoru started hurriedly, but he couldn't think of anything to finish that sentence and, after moving his mouth wordlessly for a few moments, said sheepishly, "Um… I love you lots and lots?"

Haruhi huffed again and Hikaru, smirking, leaned over her shoulder to open the new messages folder.

"In all fairness," he stated, peering at his guilty twin impishly, "Most of them are from Tono. Let's see… Kyouya, Tono, Hunny, Tono, Mori, Mei, Tono, Tono, and Tono again, Ranka - I can't believe you told him too, Kao - Ayame, Tono, Tono on Ayame's phone, Ranka, you, Mei again, Ranka again, Tono and Tono _again_…"

He paused and snorted in amusement, thankfully deciding not to carry on. "Huh," he added thoughtfully, "That's probably why he kept trying to phone me at work today. I just kept ignoring him…"

"You often do." Haruhi commented dryly.

She took one more look at the masses of people who had tried to congratulate her (or that's what she assumed they were doing; she hadn't read her father's messages yet) then sighed exasperatedly and promptly shrugged it off. Ah well. What else had she expected? _And at least_, she added lazily to herself, _it saves me the trouble of telling people later._

"Uh… sorry, Haru." Kaoru muttered from the door as Hikaru began to laugh at him again. "I was a little… enthusiastic."

She gave him a weary smile. "Don't worry about it, Kaoru. They were going to find out anyway. Sorry for being angry - I've been really tired recently."

"To be expected." Yuzuha put in suddenly, eyes twinkling mischievously as she absentmindedly made a gesture for them all to finally go through to the dining room. She winked at her knowingly. "You'll get used to it."

Wondering mildly whether she should be worried about that comment, Haruhi hesitantly placed her jacket back on the sofa, still not completely comfortable with leaving things for maids to do, and glanced at her phone again.

"…Does this mean I have to phone back everyone?" She sighed, wrinkling her nose as she followed Yuzuha.

Hikaru glanced over at her from where he was poking his twin's side teasingly and laughed. "You could just send them all a text. Saying something like… 'Yes, it's true, I'm pregnant with the most amazing babies in the world. Now stop texting me, fools.'"

"…Or I could phone them."

"Or you could do that."

* * *

**8D**

**By the way, the twin's dad was there the whole time, leaning against the wall and smiling in that vaguely amused way he does. It's just that no one noticed him. Poor him.**

**When Hikaru, five feet away, asked where he was, he wondered whether he really should put his skills to good use and become the most amazing ninja the world has ever seen. That, or the next James Bond. Being ignored has evidently turned him into a quiet five-year-old. **

**Ne'way, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter :D I enjoyed writing it - as getting Haruhi to tell everyone would be boring, I got Kaoru to instead. Woop :D He often seems to get the short straw, as it were…;; Haru-chan's dreams were fun to write too '3'**

**Thank you for reading!**

**xx**


	8. Heartbeat

_**Shy 2 the pie: **__Tell your sister she is very wrong - HikaHaru is made of awesome and will one day rule the world. XD Thank you very much for the review :) x  


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**Heartbeat

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**

Hikaru and Kaoru were putting on their debut fashion show in about five months. Instead of piggybacking on their mother's name, they were organising and designing the whole thing themselves, ready to finally live up to their already dauntingly high reputation in the fashion world. The two were eager to prove themselves as the best at doing what they loved, and were endlessly amused at the fact they had their own staff who called them 'Boss'.

The proposal for the show had been in the pipeline for a while and as the initial paper work had gone on for so long, it was only now that they had really got a chance to get down to designing and planning out the theme of the night.

"Colours… I want lots of colours." Kaoru muttered absentmindedly to himself as he ran the pencil down the paper gracefully, only pausing to scribble a note at the side of the page.

Kaoru was well and truly in the zone. And, as Hikaru knew well, Kaoru in the zone was a scary thing. His mind was buzzing with sparkling half-baked ideas that he was trying to express and solidify on paper before the next idea took over his mind and he quickly flipped the page over and started scribbling there too; he had already gone though over half of his notebook in a whirl of inspiration.

Of course, none of the designs around him would actually be used in the final show; you never used the first design. They were simply bases, ideas, something to think about and build upon. The final designs would most likely be completely different to the scribbles born in Kaoru's creative brainstorm.

"Ah… feathers. No. Maybe. A little." He didn't even pause as he stopped sketching a flamboyant cocktail dress that came to him ten seconds ago and hurriedly made a note on the side: _Feathers? Ask Hikaru. Need theme._

He underlined 'theme' several times and finally slowed down a little to frown at the empty chair opposite him, across the large cream worktop that was covered in everything from exotic material samples to crammed pots of pens. Working out a theme to work around with your brother was really more productive when your brother was actually _there_.

Kaoru huffed, grabbed his phone, and began to text restlessly.

_Commercial? Feathers? Theme! Festival - too non-commercial for debut? Seasons - too cliché? ~K _

He dropped his phone back carelessly on the desk and pulled his sketchbook closer, feeling the spark of another train of inspiration niggling at the back of his mind. But before he could think his way through it, a loud rap at the door promptly knocked it out of his head and sent it flying into the abyss. Kaoru blinked for a second, his mind suddenly completely blank, then pouted accusingly at the door as his Mother's head popped in, smiling.

"_Mom_." He whined childishly before she could say anything, leaning on a fist in defeat. "You interrupted _the zone_. I don't know what I was thinking now."

"Sorry, darling." Yuzuha laughed airily as she swept in, not sounding particularly sorry at all as she cast an amused look around the studio. She patted down her dress suit primly as she looked pointedly at the older twin's vacant seat. "Where's Hikaru?"

"He took the afternoon off to take Haruhi for a check-up at a private clinic; he wants to make sure they know _he's_ the dad, not me. Why? Do you need him?"

"Hm? No, no, not particularly."

"I thought you'd be on your way to Paris by now, anyway. Is everything ok?"

"Everything's fine." She gave him another bright smile before continuing, "I had to stop by the office to get something when I remembered; I need to ask you a favour, Kaoru."

He raised his eyebrows, politely curious though still not very impressed with having his brainstorm interrupted. "Oh?"

"You see," She began, talking as quickly as possible as she was obviously in a big rush to get to the airport on time, "The chairman of the rising company we just struck a partnership with - hair design, Kokubo Co. I think - has a daughter coming back into the country next week. If you took her out for dinner, it would make a good first impression. Will you, darling?"

Kaoru slowly made a vague 'hum' of agreement at her pointedly raised eyebrows and his mother quickly beamed, bumped her lips against his cheek and hurried out, with a quick backwards wave in thanks.

He stared at the door for a few seconds then sighed, slumping back against a fist.

_Great._

Dinner dates with daughters-of-partners was nothing new and was a pretty standard practise for him. But each one seemed to get a bit closer to literally boring him to tears and he was beginning to hate going on them. Even worse, the situation seemed to require it more and more often, much to Kaoru's dismay - especially since he and his former girlfriend, Raku, had mutually split almost a year ago and he had officially become the fashion world's most eligible bachelor.

It was worse than the host club was, he decided; at least those girls had been relatively genuine and nice, and all they wanted from him was a few flirty twin moments. But the women he met _now_ all seemed to want his babies, his money and his status, and would go to any length to get them.

_Scary_. He shuddered and frowned back down at his drawings, but his inspiration seemed to have fled with the prospect of another dull date with a girl who saw him with a value printed on his head. He groaned to himself.

Kaoru was considering packing up early or at least going to get a coffee, as he clearly wasn't going to get any more ideas down, when his phone happily beeped at him, cheerfully contrary to his mood. Smiling mildly, he flipped it open and read.

_Okay Kao. One. Calm down, breathe, and stay away from the light. Two. Come over and we'll talk about themes and stuff tonight, okay? Bring your scribbles. ~H_ **ツ**

He laughed. _Ah, my twin knows me._

Standing up and deciding that a coffee with too much syrup sounded like the best plan after all, he smiled fondly at his brother's text and happily forgot about the upcoming dinner date as he messaged him back.

_Mom interrupted my brainstorming. It was terrible. _（。´□｀。）_ Who knows what amazing scribbles I've lost.

* * *

_

_That's tragic bro, tragic. __(≧∀≦)_

Smirking to himself, Hikaru sent the message and glanced over to his right.

His Haruhi, dressed plainly in a cotton dress-shirt and jeans, was sitting next to him on the padded waiting-room chair and was blinking wearily around her, as if she kept forgetting why she had came.

Her morning sickness had been particularly bad that morning and she felt completely drained, having not slept well that night and feeling as though her body was still adjusting to all the extra work it had to do. It was obvious how tired she was from the fact that she hadn't even moved when Hikaru decided it would somehow be helpful to pull her head onto his shoulder.

He smiled lovingly and shifted even closer to her, wrapping an arm around her waist almost possessively. "You okay, Haru-darlin'?" He asked chirpily, rubbing his thumb beneath her eye as if he was trying to wipe away her exhaustion. "It's our turn soon."

"Mm." She peered up at him vaguely. "What did Kaoru want?"

He sniggered. "Heh, he was just having a _creative moment_. When he gets all inspired and hyped up about a project and I think I'm the only one who actually understands what he's going on about. Apparently, he's in a mood because Mom interrupted his scribbling frenzy - he won't be able to remember what he was going to do now."

Hikaru snorted again and Haruhi rolled her eyes, bemused, just as an overhead speaker buzzed into life and announced simply, in a crisp official voice, "Hitachiin."

"Ne! That's us Haruhi!"

"No shit, Sherlock."

Haruhi yawned and stretched unashamedly before wandering through, oblivious to the slightly offended looks from a few of the more snobbish people around her; as the clinic was private - Haruhi only allowed Hikaru to waste the money as it was for the baby's health - most of the people around her were as upper-class as the twins, though not nearly as corrupted. Hikaru sniggered at them before smirking and happily following her through.

The clinic was white and pristine, simplistic and classy, and was quietly bustling with activity. Though the hallways that the two were led through never seemed to be busy, someone always seemed to be doing something; nurses past them politely, clutching at folders or equipment, while other people paced restlessly outside doors. Soft, supposedly calming music flowed subtly through the corridor, just soft enough to be ignored, and just loud enough to mask the quiet hum of whatever was going on behind the repetitive blank doors.

Haruhi wondered how the nurses ever found their way around, as all of the doors looked exactly the same; clean, blank and white. The prim lady who was leading them finally stopped at a door that, to Haruhi's confusion, looked no different from all the others and knocked confidently.

She paused then, after apparently receiving some sort of sign that was invisible to Haruhi, opened the door, bowed, and walked off without a word. Haruhi couldn't help sharing a slightly baffled look with Hikaru.

_Okay, so… that was really creepy._

Wondering mildly whether she should have put her foot down and made them go to the public clinic after all, Haruhi hesitated before finally walking into the room.

It was just as spotless and bright as the outside, but thankfully felt more comfortable; there were a few green pot plants on one side and familiar health posters posted on the walls. Amongst the clinical furnishings sat a slightly podgy woman in a clean white overcoat, whose face was both welcoming and no-nonsense at the same time, like a well-intending old schoolmarm. Her muddy blonde hair and chalky skin made her western heritage obvious.

She smiled and smoothly stood up to give them both a firm, trusting handshake.

"Mrs Hitachiin - Mr Hitachiin - so nice to meet you both." She chirped primly, sounding like someone happily eyeing up a new challenge, eager to begin. "Dr. Murphy. Please sit down."

"Of course." Haruhi replied, liking her immediately.

Hikaru quickly exchanged the necessary pleasantries as he sat down but found himself out-of-place almost instantaneously.

Never one for wasting time, Dr. Murphy began to ask Haruhi questions about her health, from everything from her morning sickness to her feelings, making notes only after Haruhi had finished speaking. Haruhi answered every query bluntly and honestly, and Hikaru was surprised at how little he could do that wasn't just nodding his head supportively and occasionally adding, 'yeah'.

He wanted to find something he could answer himself but as they moved onto questions that would have made his seventeen-year-old self blush, he realised that, at least at this stage, he had very little to offer. It wasn't _his_ body they were interested in, after all.

Noticing him shifting restlessly, Dr. Murphy once tried to kindly bring him into the conversation by throwing in a comment about how a lack of potassium would explain her banana cravings.

"I'm sure you could help work that into her diet." She smiled as Hikaru blinked at her, happy at finally being able to contribute - _'I can answer! I can answer! Woo!'_

But before he managed to say anything, Haruhi mindlessly cut across his attempt with a snort. "It's no good telling him that; Hikaru never cooks."

After that, the doctor stopped trying to talk to him and, for the first time in his life, Hikaru _really_ wished he could cook without burning the kitchen down.

When the questions were out of the way, there was the testing that required Hikaru's presence even less. While Haruhi was put through blood samples, a physical examination and a blood pressure reading, he hovered around her, holding her hand 'supportively' and ignoring her mutters of, 'just go back to the waiting room if you're bored, Hikaru'.

"Well." Dr Murphy began when she had finished, giving Haruhi a business-like smile (she had taken to ignoring Hikaru). "We need to keep an eye on your blood pressure - it's a bit too high - but other than that everything seems to be as expected. There are several possible reasons about why you're having slightly more severe fatigue and morning sickness than normal, but rest assured it's a simple side effect to your pregnancy."

But instead of elaborating on the 'several possible reasons', the woman looked up from her notes and said primly, "I would like to read your baby's heartbeat."

"Eh?" Hikaru spoke up in amazement, unable to help himself. "You can do that? Really? Already?"

She looked at him.

"Yes."

She looked away.

Hikaru sank back into his seat. Haruhi snorted.

A few minutes later, she was sitting on the crisp white bed with a sensor at her stomach. The Doppler system, which they were told amplified the baby's heart sounds, was situated on a small trolley facing the doctor; she was clutching some headphones to her ear and was staring carefully at a small screen, wrinkling her eyes in concentration.

The doctor remained silent as she focused and Hikaru, bored with all the waiting he was being put through, absentmindedly shifted closer to his wife and entwined their fingers. Haruhi glanced over at him to find him looking back impishly, a fond smile on his face as he rubbed her palm softly in slow circles with his thumb.

"…If you could keep your own heartbeat as calm as possible…" Dr. Murphy muttered distractedly, making Haruhi jump and Hikaru start to snigger.

She snatched her hand back and folded them over her chest, glaring at him in irritation as he smirked widely. Dr. Murphy smiled vaguely as she watched the screen.

"Mr. Hitachiin." She suddenly spoke up, making it Hikaru's turn to jump in surprise. "You're a twin yourself, correct?"

"Hm? Oh! Yes! Yes, I am."

"Monozygotic?"

"… Uh…"

"I mean, you're identical?"

"Oh, yes! We're very… um… we're very… identical…"

Haruhi laughed at him as his sentence trailed off awkwardly, as if he had just realised that he wasn't exactly having a very _intelligent _moment. The doctor just smiled kindly at them both before turning the trolley slightly so they could see the small screen. Hikaru tried to redeem himself by nodding wisely and attempting to look as though he actually knew what the weird spikes and wiggles meant.

Haruhi already seemed to know where this was going and, contrary to Hikaru's failed attempt at looking knowledgeable about whatever he was looking at, was staring at the rhythmic spikes in fascination. She would like to say that she'd had a hunch about this from the start, through that strange motherly sixth sense that she'd heard other people bragging about, but in truth, she hadn't even bothered thinking about the possibility.

"I only ask," Dr. Murphy elaborated, eyebrows raised pointedly as she realised that certain people present needed it spelled out for them, "because there seems to be more than one heartbeat. More specifically, two heartbeats."

"Two…?"

She passed the headphones over and, with a look of delighted awe finally growing on his face, Hikaru held them between his and Haruhi's ears and listened intently.

For a few moments, all they heard was a faint buzz, almost like static. Then they managed to distinguish the fluttering beat of a tiny, underdeveloped heart, working as fast as a bird's wing. Then, after concentrating for a few more prolonged moments, they both recognised the slight offbeat, quieter, akin but distinct.

As one, Hikaru and Haruhi held their breath as they listened to the fluttering of two beautiful heartbeats.

* * *

Half an hour later, Kaoru's phone beeped again as it received a message from Hikaru. Kaoru absentmindedly poured some syrup into yet another coffee as he flipped it open and read.

_Kaoru! Our genetics wi__n! (≧∀≦) __Twins! Xx

* * *

_

**Yes, I know, one of the Hitachiin twins having twins themselves has become something of a cliché and it would have been more original to make them have a single or… **_**sextuplets**_** or something like that. But… I like twins xD I couldn't resist. :3 I hope you don't mind :D Now for names… :/**

**By the way! The results are up from my 'Kaoru pairing' poll. I have decided to make a Kaoru/OC pairing. No wait! Don't kill me yet! D: **

**Kaoru/OC didn't get the most votes, but I had an idea which I felt compelled to write about. As most people wanted Kaoru to be lonely alone on his lonely lonesome, this pairing will be very much a side pairing and won't appear for a while. Also, I promise the OC won't be 'me in the story' or 'perfect'.**

…**Writing my own character is scary**.** （。´□｀。）**

**Thank you so much for reading and for all your reviews! I can't believe this story has gotten the amount of attention it has…;; I'm very honoured. I hope my story doesn't disappoint. 8')**

**xxx**


	9. Pretending

**Pretending

* * *

**

_Hikaru's Point Of View

* * *

_

It's 7:35 and I'm only just getting home.

That's really late for me, and I'm really tired. Kaoru and I have been working vigorously in the studio all day, only leaving to demand more coffee, syrup, and maybe some pocky. We're already designing outfits but we still don't have a concrete theme for our show; the most likely theme at the moment is 'festival', with a few vintage elements. We want something bright and theatrical; something that people will remember and talk about for ages. Lots of colours and flashes and bangs!

Mom warned us over the phone not to go overboard and ruin it. But we totally aren't. We know when to stop. Honest.

It's called _enthusiasm_.

I yawn loudly as I reach the door and manage to open it, fumbling with the handle. I'm about to call Haruhi and whine about how tired I am when I suddenly notice her slumped on our low sofa.

She's actually fallen asleep, right there in the middle of work, and she's half-lying on the coffee table with her head buried in her folded arms. The remains of food - plates of natto, potato skins and bananas (she's been eating a lot lately) - and books consume the rest of the table. I narrow my eyes and glare at the offending books.

They're the type of books that _look_ like they're interesting and clever so, feeling weirdly intelligent, you pick them up and try to read, only to be confronted by the most boring words in human existence, all smashed together to make long sentences that you're sure do not make sense. You end up meekly putting them back down after the first few sentences, feeling slightly dumb. And now look! They've even sent Haruhi to sleep.

Stupid books.

I dump my stuff in the kitchen (I'll sort it out… later) then come back and kneel beside Haruhi, smirking in amusement. She looks so cute while she's asleep. My heart swells lovingly and I can't help reaching over and softly brushing a few strands of hair away from her face, my fingers lingering a bit longer than they should. She frowns and mumbles something then turns so she's facing me before drifting back into sleep.

Sniggering, I run my fingers delicately through her hair again.

I should probably wake her up. She'll get annoyed at me if I don't. I just sit there and watch her silently for a few moments, musing on how cute she looks and deliberating on whether Haruhi would kill me or not if I took a picture. Eventually coming to the conclusion that yes, she would, I get a sudden urge and smirk.

I should wake her up, ne?

Taking her head in both of my hands gently, I lean down and kiss her forehead, then both of her cheeks, then both of her eyelids. She just frowns and mumbles a bit, still dozing, so I firmly kiss her lips; I almost have to stop to laugh when, after a few moments, she sleepily responds, still not actually awake, but getting there. When her eyelids begin to flutter, I grin triumphantly and move back, sniggering when she blinks at me, jumps, and blushes.

"Hik- Hikaru, what- why are you back already?"

"Already, she says." I snort, rolling my eyes and nodding towards the clock mounted on the wall. "I'm _late_. How long have you been asleep?"

Haruhi hurriedly sits up and looks over at the time, her face falling comically when she registers it. She glares at me when I snigger. "A while." She mutters reluctantly, sighing and looking over her work. "I was thinking about today and I guess I just… dozed off."

"I can see that." I quip helpfully, leaning against her knee. "What happened today that was so interesting it drew _you _away from your work?"

For some reason, she suddenly gives me a disbelieving and slightly irritated look and pushes my head off her knee. "You forgot?" She demands and I blink at her, lost.

"I… was supposed to remember something?"

"Yes. You're such an idiot."

"Why am I an idiot this time?"

"Because you are." She huffs, giving me weary and almost disappointed look. "I suppose I should've guessed that you'd forgotten when you didn't say anything this morning and I didn't get bombarded by texts today." She sighs. "Well, whatever."

I stare at her. I don't know why, but I suddenly feel really guilty.

"Um…" I start, hurriedly straining my overworked brain to find any relevance to today that I would usually text Haruhi madly about. "Err, well… it… it's a… a Saturday…"

"Yes…?"

"And it's… um… it's… October…?"

She simply snorts in response and rolls her eyes as I pout, confused. Exasperated, she leans over to her books and begins shifting them around, narrowing her eyes as she looks for something. Finally, a small smile graces her features as she finds some photographic paper and holds it up, raising her eyebrows pointedly. "Remember now?"

For a second, I just stare at the strange black and white image, squinting at two wobbly patches of grey, which look kind of like…

It clicks.

"_**Oh**__-my-God-I-forgot-the-freaking-scan_!"

She quirks an eyebrow, justly unimpressed, and I lean back against her knee, feeling horrified with myself. How could I forget the 12-week scan? Of course, it was today. I'd been looking forward to it. I had been whining about the fact work was stopping me going too. Ah, **crap**. …_Kaoru should have reminded me!_

Groaning, I roll my head so I can look up at Haruhi; her eyes tell me she's already forgiven me, though she still looks understandably annoyed and has stubbornly put the ultrasound face-down beside her. I pout miserably.

"I'm really sorry, honey. Really, really!"

"…"

"I would've remembered, it's just that… I forgot instead. I was thinking about colours. And bangs. I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

"Huh."

"Please? I'm so sorry! I love you, sweetheart!"

"Moron."

"Yes I am."

She huffs, and for a second I think I catch a glimpse of a smile. Taking this as a good sign, I grin gingerly and slowly scramble up onto the sofa next to her, wrapping my arms snugly around her waist and glancing sheepishly at her face.

I wait a few seconds to give her a chance to pull away then, when she doesn't, ask daringly, "So… can I see them?"

Haruhi pauses then finally relaxes into me and wordlessly picks up the ultrasound and holds it out; her eyes seem to follow the image of their own accord and that small smile makes an appearance again, making her lips twitch into a fond and slightly apprehensive expression. Amused, I pluck the image from her hand and get a proper look at my children for the very first time.

And I'm not going to lie. I don't think they're cute.

They look kind of like a pair of blurry little aliens. But even so, I know what they are, my children, Haruhi's children, our twins, and that's enough to bring a huge giddy grin to my face.

Without really deciding to, I use my fingertip to lightly trace the silhouette of each twin, separate and distinct. I trace around their bulbous heads and tiny, barely-human features: around their frail bodies, curved to fit snugly in their safe bubble of black: around a little hand that one of them is holding up to their face, as if they want to suck their thumb but they're not quite sure how to yet.

Their feet and part of their legs overlap and the image becomes too blurry to really distinguish one from the other at that point so I have to guess, and I confidently draw them some perfectly formed feet with my finger.

"Our children." I say, just to hear how it sounds aloud, getting my mouth around the words.

I notice Haruhi smile quirkily again as she stares at the ultrasound, her cheeks happily flushed. Her prior irritation seems to have suddenly fled, which I'm thankful about. I kiss her forehead when all of a sudden she looks up at me, her eyes bright and determined.

"That's right." She says randomly. "Our children are right there. So, let's try to raise them well, okay Hikaru?"

I blink.

She, for once, leans up to kiss me but her words had too much of an effect on me for me to do much in the way of responding. She relaxes next to me again, content, as I stare back at the ultrasound, barely breathing.

"_So, let's try to raise them well, okay Hikaru?"_

Let's try to… Oh. Right. Yes. Right.

I haven't really… thought of it like that.

I mean, obviously I understand what's happening. Our children, our family. I'm in love with the idea of the family we are and I can sit still for ages just delighting in the fact.

I glance at my wife.

But… that's just it, isn't it? I'm in love with the _idea_. Do I really understand the implications of what's happening to us? A few hours ago, I would have said, yes, of course I do.

I stare back at the ultrasound, and suddenly I don't know anymore.

They aren't just two little alien-like blobs on a photo. They're two whole human lives that _I'm_ going to influence, _I'm_ going to shape, _I'm_ going to protect. The whole direction of their existence can change because of one little thing that I do.

Those two little heartbeats need everything that I have to give.

Suddenly, I feel scared. Not wow-that-roller-coaster's-really-high kind of scared, but genuine heart-pounding-hold-on-tight-because-we're-about-to-die kind of scared. My stomach is squirming and rolling in on itself feverishly as though it's trying to hide and I can't drag my eyes away from the photo. I can barely breathe. I feel like something's just latched onto my heart and is stopping it from beating.

_Oh, God._

_Can I do this?_

But before I have a chance to voice any worries, my twins disappear as Haruhi suddenly plucks the ultrasound out of my hand. I blink, disorientated, as she stands and stretches primly, the slight bump at her middle far more noticeable to me than it was five seconds ago. After she relaxes, she smiles down at me vaguely.

"I'm pretty hungry, so I'll start dinner now. I'll put _this_ away too so we don't misplace it; I know Tamaki's dieing to see. If you're not doing anything, you can make us some tea."

I'm still kind of disorientated so all I do is nod feebly and sit there watching as she begins to collect her papers and books and piles it up neatly, ready to put it all away in our study. I only wake up when she grabs the huge and heavy-looking - to me - pile herself and I quickly jump up to grab it from her, insisting that it's okay, I can take that, she should go and start dinner. She frowns at me stubbornly but she still lets me take it from her.

As she passes the pile of hardback books to me, our fingers brush. That seems to set something off in my brain and I grin happily as, all of a sudden, I realise something that makes me feel wonderfully light.

And that something is this: _there's no reason to be scared._

I'm a husband, I'm an adult. I'm at the head of a billion-yen fashion company. All that makes me sound pretty mature, in my opinion. I'm sure I can handle kids. I mean, why not?

Even if I'm not quite mature enough yet - and that's a big _if_ - nine months is a really long time; I'll be perfectly fine by the time they arrive. I know I will. Haruhi hasn't said anything, and neither has Kaoru, so they must think so too. I'm okay as I am. There's nothing to worry or be scared about.

I'm going to be fine.

When I put the books down in the study, the pile topples and a few books slide messily across the desk like playing cards, though the fact barely registers. I'm in a high, happy, confident place, where such trivial things can't reach me.

Right. I'm going to be fine.

* * *

**Another chapter finished! 8D I hope you enjoyed. Thoughts are very welcome.**

**Thank you so, so, so much to everyone who has reviewed :D A review reply doesn't seem like a good enough thank you. Can you send cake through the computer? Next time I get a review, I'll throw some cake at the computer screen. Let's see how that turns out. =3=**

**xxx**


	10. Karma's Against You

**Karma's Against You  


* * *

**

Haruhi waited outside her manager's office in a hard plastic chair, staring straight ahead of her and trying to act as though she had any idea as to what she actually doing there.

The call from her floor manager for a personal meeting had come completely out of the blue that morning and, though she had quickly checked her inbox and e-mails, she could find no reason as to why he would need to see her. She wasn't behind on anything; in fact, she was more than on top of all her work and could relax if she really wanted to, though of course she wouldn't.

Haruhi wasn't yet the lawyer she aspired to be; after graduating from her scholarship at university that spring, she had decided to take a gap year to get some proper work experience at a real firm before going on to law school. It meant she was a year longer away from her dream, but it was providing valuable experience that would set her head and shoulders above everyone else when she finally moved on.

Obviously she wasn't doing the work a lawyer would actually do, not being qualified for that yet, but her determination had been noticed and she given plenty to keep her busy.

"Mrs. Hitachiin?"

Haruhi blinked and quickly stood up primly when her named was called, glancing at the secretary. Miss Nana, a young, bright girl with a head of thick red hair and a particularly round face, smiled at her and whispered chirpily, overflowing with ungrounded familiarity, "Sorry for the wait, Haruhi - he was just on the phone to some big cheeses. Gosh knows what they talk about. He was talking to one for _hours _yesterday!"

She laughed to herself, waved Haruhi through and happily went back to checking her e-mails.

Bemused, Haruhi nodded her thanks, smiling slightly, and at last walked to the modern blurred-glass door and firmly gripped the silver handle. She paused for a second, collecting herself, before she finally opened it and meekly stepped inside.

The office was airy and simplistic, decorated with soft whites and blues, with a luxurious wall-length window brightening the whole room. Behind a silvery desk covered in paperwork and a sleek, complicated-looking phone, sat an overworked man with kind wrinkled eyes, and ears that looked just a little too big for him.

He looked up from his notes and, when he saw Haruhi, smiled tiredly and motioned towards the plain chair before him. As she bowed slightly and hurried to the seat, he leant back in his plush grey chair and folded his hands over his stomach, regarding her with a content look.

Haruhi was about to apologise for interrupting when he spoke; though his voice was slow and careful, it held a natural authority and claimed all attention instantly.

"I apologise for dragging you away from your work, Mrs. Hitachiin," He began, "But I felt it was necessary to see you myself." He paused to smile at her and made a vague gesture to one of the papers on his desk. "I like to work closely with the people in my department and I would like to applaud you for the wonderful effort you put into your work. I'm very impressed. It's rare we see someone with such dedication."

"Th-thank you, sir." She replied respectfully, unsure what else she could really say to such praise. "I don't… do anything special."

"I'm sure." He smiled at her again then looked down at his notes, as though he was choosing his next words carefully. "…You have all the workings a great lawyer. You'll undoubtedly be snapped up by some well-established firm the moment you graduate." He looked up at her. "However, I'd like you to know that a position here is always-"

_BRING!_

Haruhi, who'd been stared at her manager with a sort of amazement, jumped wildly as the phone suddenly exploded loudly.

A flash of irritation passing over his face, he hurriedly picked it up and listened. Then he looked up at her in surprise and, to Haruhi's confusion, held out the phone to her. "It's for you. Urgent call, apparently."

Haruhi jumped again and, trying to act as calm as possible and not show how puzzled she was, slowly took the phone. "Haruhi Hitachiin speaking." She chirped professionally, attempting to leave her manager in no doubt that she was as competent as he made her out to be.

When she heard who was on the line, her heart sank.

"Hey sweetheart~!"

_Oh my God. I'm going to kill him._

She avoided her manager's eye as she said, trying desperately to make it sound like she _wasn't_ getting a pointless personal call in the middle of a meeting, "Can I be of help, sir?"

"Oooooh, I like that - _sir_." Hikaru sniggered. "You going to call me that when we get home too? And yes, Ms. Hitachiin, yes, you can be of help. You see, I'm feeling lonely and Kaoru won't talk to me because I drank his coffee. And I haven't seen my wife for - hold on - ah - for an entire _four hours_. And I haven't had a kiss for even longer, because she's mean. I'm having withdrawal symptoms."

Haruhi resisted the urge to simply hang up on him. "That's very unfortunate, sir." She managed, twitching when he laughed.

"It is, isn't it? I'm thinking that kidnapping her and forcing her to have a late lunch with me may help. What's your professional opinion?"

_I hate him. He's doing this on purpose._

"I'm sure there's an alternative, sir."

"Oh, really? Sound _intriguing_. Do tell."

Taking a steadying breath and painfully conscious of her manager's pointedly raised eyebrows, she said with a hint of irritation, "Well, if you call again and talk to our firm's receptionist, he'll be able to put you through to someone who may be able to help. Would that be okay?"

"Depends." He cackled through the phone, no doubt smirking devilishly. "Will this someone be hot?"

She twitched. "I'm afraid I don't have that information on me right now, sir. Please talk to our receptionist."

There was a loud, melodramatic huff, sending a fuzz of static into her ear. "Who is this receptionist you keep talking about? You're not having an affair are you? Haruhi, darling, _love of my life_?"

"Happy to help."

"Yeah, I'm sure you are." He laughed. "Anyway, see you at home darling! Try not to miss me too much! And tell your receptionist, he can kiss my sorry-"

"_Thank_ you, sir!" Haruhi snapped hurriedly, banging the phone back with a little more force than was necessary.

There was a long pause before she quickly smiled up at her manager, flustered. "I'm so sorry, please continue. That was- that was nothing. Just a misguided client. I'm sorry for the unnecessary interruption."

"No problem."

Her manager gave her a stern nod then looked back down to his notes. Inwardly, he was smiling in amusement and wondering whether he really _was _too soft on the people in his department.

Haruhi looked down at her knees and waited patiently for him to speak. Inwardly, she was going through the ways she could violently murder her husband, without making too much mess.

* * *

Hikaru had a feeling he was in trouble.

He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was some sort of sixth sense. A mental connection maybe. He couldn't think of anything he had done that was _that _bad, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that he was going to get shouted at. Which wouldn't help his self-proclaimed kiss withdrawal symptoms (a day, after all, was a very long time).

He eyed his front door suspiciously as he walked up to it, an oblivious Kaoru trotting along beside him (he'd grudgingly forgiven him for the 'coffee drinking' incident). They'd been discussing the venue for their show, but Hikaru had been drifting out of the conversation as they neared his door.

Was it him, or was it getting hotter as they got closer?

"About the guest list," Kaoru carried on, tapping his chin musingly. "Should we try to invite as many as possible or just keep it restricted per show? We could be more creative with the catwalk if there's less people…"

Hikaru reached the door and decided that if Haruhi started shouting at him, the best thing to do would be to just play dumb. Maybe he'd get out of it.

He put his hand on the handle then paused and glanced over his shoulder at his twin, who had now realised with a sigh that he wasn't really listening at all. "As a warning," Hikaru said sternly, "Haruhi may be angry at me."

Kaoru quirked an eyebrow sceptically. "Oh? Why might she be angry at you?"

"Err… 'cause she's been all sensitive and stuff lately… You know, pregnancy stuff, I think. Can't take a joke." He thought about it for a second, then shrugged and finally swung open the door. He grinned and called out provokingly, just like an old American movie, "Hey honey, I'm home!"

Without missing a beat, a thoroughly irritated voice from the kitchen yelled back, "_Why_?"

Hikaru snorted. "You call that a welcome home?" He drawled, pouting as Haruhi's disgruntled face popped in from the kitchen. "I'm sure you can do better than that." He tired teasing, but Haruhi obviously wasn't having any of it.

"What the _hell_," she snapped, seemingly oblivious to Kaoru who was sheepishly slipping through the door, bewildered, "possessed you to ring my work and, instead of waiting, ask to be put through to the _manager's office_? I was in a meeting!"

"Yeah, but it didn't matter really, did it?" He shrugged casually, pretending not to notice Haruhi's eyes narrowing slightly. "I bet no knew it was me. What with your _flawless_ acting skills." He added with a smirk.

"But they might have." She retorted, not in the mood for his teasing. "He was in the middle of talking to me about the fact they might take me on as a lawyer! Getting a stupid call like that wasn't helping my case."

Hikaru paused and blinked at her in surprise. "As a lawyer…?" He muttered slowly before he beamed, grabbing her hands excitedly. "Well, that's great, right? You-!"

She snatched her hands back. "It wasn't the time to have to deal with your idiotic call! Stop phoning me during work hours!"

"Well, it's not like it mattered!" Hikaru insisted defensively, frowning at her. "Your manager has a total soft spot for you; he'd let you get away with murder, never mind a phone call."

"That's not the point!" She snapped.

"Then what is?"

"Stop phoning me like that!"

"Jeeze, Haruhi." He pouted, giving her sceptical look. "Are you grumpy because of your pregnancy hormones?"

Haruhi's eyes flashed furiously and Kaoru, who had been sheepishly fading into the background and inching towards the kitchen, groaned to himself and rolled his eyes at Hikaru's complete lack of tact. Hormones it might be, but if you wanted to live, you didn't say it aloud.

"No, I'm _freaking_ not!" Haruhi retorted angrily. "_It's because you're a moron_!"

"Chill Haruhi. Eat a banana."

"_Prat_. Why are you being so immature lately?"

"Why are you being so hormonal lately-_ow_! No hitting!"

Her eyes threw a few more daggers at him before Haruhi finally turned her back on her husband, adding over her shoulder in a last scathing statement, "I refuse to kiss you for a month."

Hikaru gasped in horror as Kaoru burst out laughing.

"_EH? _That's not fair!"

"Kaoru, would you like to see the ultrasound?"

"Yes please, Haruhi."

"Hey! Don't be _mean_, Haru!"

"It's just here, Kaoru. I'm surprised how clear it came out; you can really see both of them."

"Uwah, that's so cool. Any ideas for names yet?"

"Don't ignore me!"

"No, not yet. Maybe you could help us think of some."

"I'd love to, little sister."

"_Oi_! I'm never going to phone you again Haruhi! Never, never, _never_. I'll go on holiday for a year and not call you once!"

"Here it is, Kaoru."

"Yey!"

"…"

Realising that he was, obviously, fighting a losing battle, Hikaru collapsed onto the sofa and sulked dramatically. Kaoru sat primly on the other end, smiling down at his nieces or nephews for the first time.

Just like his twin, Kaoru traced a finger tip delicately around both of them, singling each sibling out. He beamed fondly and, after drinking the image of them in for a few moments, glanced up to Haruhi's stomach, as if he expected the outline of them to be imprinted there (Haruhi rolled her eyes). Finally he looked up to her face and grinned.

"They're beautiful." He cooed happily, beaming back down at the photo which he was apparently unable to keep his eyes off for too long. "So, so cute! Looking at them like that makes them seem so much more real, doesn't it?"

Haruhi snorted and glanced down at it herself; her arms were wrapped subconsciously around her middle. "For you, maybe." She drawled, quirking an eyebrow. "For me they've been pretty real ever since I found I have a bump."

"A baby bump!" Kaoru laughed before adding, with a teasing glance at his twin, "Let's just hope they don't inherit their dad's brains, ne?"

Hikaru, who had been gazing at the picture silently over Kaoru's shoulder, scowled at that and aimed a kick at his brother, sticking his tongue out childishly.

"Or lack of them." Haruhi added dryly, causing him to scowl even more.

Haruhi said something about starting dinner, asking sarcastically whether Kaoru would be staying to eat, and he winked at her before peering over at his twin. Hikaru was still visibly sulking, pouting like no twenty-three year old should and leaning on a fist. Though his moody expression never changed, Kaoru noticed his brother's eyes kept glancing over to the ultrasound almost subconsciously, as though he couldn't help studying his children in fascination.

Kaoru smiled softly and nudged him with his toe.

"Quit sulking, bro." He teased, grinning at the thought of Haruhi's earlier comment. "You reap what you sow. Karma's on Haruhi's side."

Hikaru glared at him. "_You_ stop picking on me too. I didn't mean to drink your stupid coffee."

"Yes you did. As you were drinking it, you shouted 'look, Kaoru! I'm drinking your coffee!'"

"Oh yeah… well, I'm going to drink it tomorrow too!"

Kaoru rolled his eyes and looked back to the ultrasound, making a mental note to put hot sauce into his coffee tomorrow morning.

"You do that Hikaru, you do that."

* * *

**Haruhi - 1  
Kaoru - 1  
Hikaru - 0**

**Hikaru loses. XD A slightly pointless chapter that I hope was mildly entertaining 8D And it's chapter 10! This story is now in double figures! Woop? OwO Thank you for reading and pretty please review!**

**By the way, Haruhi's at the 12-week point at the moment, but does anyone know at what point she can really start feeling the babies move and stuff? And when can other people feel them kicking? I heard it was sooner for twins, but who knows how much truth is in that…;;**

**Again, thank you very much for reading! 8D**

**xxx**

**P.S. The cake thing didn't work out. It truly is impossible to send a cake through the computer screen. Darn you, laws of reality. **


	11. Forgive Me, I Have Sushi

**Forgive Me. I Have Sushi.

* * *

**

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** Haru-darling, I'm really sorry for yesterday. '3'~x

**To:** Haruhi  
**From:** Hikaru **  
Message:** I really am! I have to revert to texts because you didn't let me apologise this morning and you won't like it if I phone. Forgive me~~~ xxx

**To:** Haruhi  
**From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** Don't ignore me!(≧~≦) I know you took your phone today. ¬.¬

**To:** Haruhi  
**From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** Haruhi~~~~~! Forgive me~! I'll keep texting until you answer! O-o

**To:** Haruhi  
**From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** I mean it!

**To:** Haruhi  
**From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** An-

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** -swer

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** me!

**To:** Haruhi  
**From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** xxxxxxxxxxxx

**To:** Hikaru  
**From:** Haruhi**  
Message:** Hikaru, stop texting me. I forgive you.

**To:** Haruhi  
**From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** Good. 8') I love you. See you tonight~ xx

**To:** Hikaru**  
From:** Haruhi  
**Message:** See you.

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** -.- I said, 'I love you'.

**To:** Hikaru  
**From:** Haruhi  
**Message:** I love you too. Dolt.

**To:** Haruhi  
**From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** :D

* * *

**To:** Kaoru**  
From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** Kao, you want to go out with me and Haru tonight? 8D

**To:** Hikaru  
**From:** Kaoru  
**Message:** Why are you texting me? I'm just down the hall.

**To:** Kaoru  
**From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** I can't get up to find you. I'm in the zone. If I move, hundreds of amazingly brilliant designs will slip through my fingers, lost forever. Moving isn't an option.

**To:** Hikaru  
**From:** Kaoru  
**Message:** In other words, you're feeling lazy.

**To:** Kaoru**  
From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** Pretty much. :D So, you coming?

**To:** Hikaru  
**From:** Kaoru**  
Message:** As much as I'd love to gatecrash, I can't. '3' I have a date, remember?

**To:** Kaoru**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** …huh? O.o

**To:** Hikaru**  
From:** Kaoru  
**Message:** -.- That girl from our new supplier. Good first impressions an' all that. I don't want to go. D:

**To:** Kaoru  
**From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** Aww. I forgot about that. X3 My poor baby bro, the hot eligible bachelor.

**To:** Hikaru**  
From:** Kaoru  
**Message:** 3: Think they'd all leave me alone if I told them all I was gay? :D

**To:** Kaoru**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** Haha (≧∀≦) You'd be chased by guys then XD

**To:** Hikaru  
**From:** Kaoru  
**Message:** … -.-

* * *

It was the end of work and Haruhi was slowly putting away her things for the day. She smiled mildly as she spotted her phone, her mind retracing to Hikaru's earlier texts. He was such a dope, but she couldn't help the feeling of fondness that tugged at her as she softly brushed a thumb over the screen.

"Haruhi! There you are!"

Haruhi jumped out of her musing and looked up, hurriedly placing her phone in her pocket. She instantly spotted Miss Nana (Nana was her first name, but she refused to tell anyone her last), wearing a shockingly pink dress suit, waving chirpily at her as she skipped over.

They really barely knew each other, but over-familiarity seemed to be Nana's thing.

A Tamaki-like person, Haruhi decided wearily to herself as she smiled slowly. "Is everything okay?" She asked politely as the bubbly redhead reached her.

"Of course, of course!" Miss Nana gushed happily, flapping a hand and leaning closer as though she was spreading gossip. "But, gosh. I have a message for you. I was covering for Kenji on reception and this really _handsome_ man arrived!" Haruhi nodded slowly, wondering whether there was any point to her knowing this. "He wandered round for a bit then came to ask me where he could find _you_, Ha-chan! He said he's your husband - is that true? Gosh, he's _gorgeous_!"

Haruhi blinked in surprise and gave her a bewildered look as she continued to giggle girlishly. "Hikaru's here?" She asked blankly. "Why?"

"He didn't say. But gosh! You're so lucky, Ha-chan!"

Wondering at what point she had been given _another _nickname, by someone she'd only really spoken to yesterday no less, Haruhi sighed and picked up her bag. She made a neutral 'hum' at Nana's comment and began walking to the reception, her new acquaintance trotting along beside her like a happy puppy.

"When did you meet? Where? I just love romantic stories!" She simpered innocently, eyes shining bright. She added with a sigh, "I wish _I_ had a gorgeous husband."

Haruhi gave her an exasperated and weary smile, definitely not on the same dreamy wavelength. "We met at high school." She stated shortly. "Nothing romantic really-"

"Oh gosh, a first love? How _cute_!"

_Unquestionably a Tamaki-like person._

They had almost reached the entrance hall when a sudden thought occurred to her and, slightly worried, Haruhi glanced over sharply. "Miss Nana-"

"Don't add 'Miss', silly!"

"Um… Nana then, you came to find me but… who's on reception?"

Nana smiled and shrugged casually, waving a brightly painted, manicured hand. "Well… Kenji should be back by now." She laughed airily.

Haruhi gave her a disbelieving look. "You shouldn't have left your work just for me…" She insisted, hoping that no one had seen her leave it unattended, as she didn't want her to get in trouble just for this.

Nana however, seemed totally unabashed. "Oh, don't worry," she laughed, suddenly lowering her voice, "I won't tell anyone he was looking for you! We don't want people getting jealous!"

"That's not what I'm worried about…"

"_Haruhi_!"

Haruhi sighed as, yet again, her name was yelled across the room. She looked up to find Hikaru, still dressed in the navy shirt and long coat he'd worn to work, grinning at her from leaning against the reception desk and happily waving a hand. Nana let out an explosive giggle and quickly trotted off towards the thankfully still abandoned reception, where several phones were wailing insistently.

Hikaru quickly trotted over to her and, before Haruhi could say anything, wrapped his arms tightly around her and pulled her to him. Haruhi only had enough time to blink and say his name before he released her and held her out at arm's length.

"I've got a surprise for you!" He announced giddily, smirking widely as Haruhi blinked owlishly at him.

"Huh? …Why?"

Hikaru rolled his eyes and snorted. "Why, she says. Not _wow that's great_, but _why_." He sighed dramatically and grinned at her raised eyebrow before he explained bluntly.

"Well, I'm a barely forgiven husband." He answered honestly with a completely straight face. "So therefore it's in my job description to make sure all possible anger from my wife is gone by sucking up to her shamelessly."

He held out an arm and, amused, Haruhi complied by placing her hand in the crook of his elbow. He grinned happily again and led her towards the entrance before continuing.

"So, we're gong to a sushi restaurant, just for you! It's great; no one's heard of it, it's full of smelly commoner people, and there are never enough waiters. You even get exercise, because you have to wave your arms around like a mad thing to get any service. It's awesome. However, I'm afraid it's lacking in the bad smell and bad food departments. I also may have been a terrible person and booked us a private room, with a lakeside view. I hope you can forgive me."

Haruhi snorted as he fluttered his eyelashes at her mockingly.

Obviously, despite his teasing, he'd been careful to make sure that he took her out somewhere she would be sure to feel comfortable in, and enjoy; unlike the top restaurants she'd been dragged to now and again, that were so high-class and restrained that it was hard to enjoy the expensive food.

"You didn't need to take me out anywhere - I've already forgiven you for being an annoying prat." She pointed out bluntly, making him cringe with that last comment. She paused and smiled mildly. "But it's nice to just go out with you."

He brightened up and grinned sheepishly, before leaning over and innocently pecking her forehead, apparently taking her impulsive ban on normal kisses last night seriously. Amused, Haruhi kept silent, wondering how long that would last.

As they reached outside and started walking down the street, Hikaru pointing to where his driver had parked, Haruhi tightened her hold on his arm.

_I love this idiot._

It wasn't so much the fact he was taking her out that touched her, but the fact he'd put thought into it (from the fact he'd felt the need to show off the place, she guessed that for once, this idea hadn't been plucked from Kaoru's brain). She would have been just as happy if he'd simply told her that they were staying in but he'd ordered some of her favourite food for dinner, so she didn't have to cook.

She thought on it for a second then said randomly, "I'm glad I don't have to dress up though. You make me feel like your own personal Barbie doll whenever we go out."

Hikaru gave her a sideways look and smirked.

"Don't be silly." He snorted. "It might only be filled with common folk, but you still have to be the best dressed woman there. I've got a dress in the car."

"…Wonderful."

"Isn't it?"

* * *

**This chapter is short, and it's only purpose is to set up the next chapter. I'm really, really sorry! It needed to exist. T^T I'm sorry! I'll update soon!**

**Though the next chapter won't have that much HikaHaru… It's mainly about Kaoru's date, in which we find disembodied limbs, pumpkins and Kaoru trying to look innocent. Yeah.**

**But anyway. Hopefully this was okay. 8') Reviews and constructive criticism make me dance round in happiness, like Tamaki on a sugar rush. And you know how hyper **_**that **_**is. 8D**

**xxx**


	12. Cat and Mouse

**Cat and Mouse

* * *

**

On one side of town, Hikaru teasingly helped Haruhi sit down, laughing when she glared at him.

They were in a private Japanese-style room, endorsed with dark, polished wood and lit by the soft light of a few red paper lanterns. Hikaru sat down opposite her, cross-legged, and he happily joked about his day. Somehow, as they both looked to the menu and deliberated on the different sushi platters, their hands found each other and entwined.

On the other side of town, Kaoru stood alone and sullenly watched a luxurious car drive up to a gourmet restaurant.

He couldn't help but sigh quietly when the chauffeur opened the door and bowed as Leiko Kokubo, his 'date' for the night, finally made her appearance. First, one long leg appeared, and then it was eventually joined by another. They paused to position themselves gracefully for a second before a slender arm, which reached out pointedly so the chauffeur could hurriedly help her out, joined them.

_Why do so many girls get out of the car like that? Do they think I'll get turned on by their disembodied limbs or something?_

Kaoru quickly put his acting skills to good use and arranged his features to look polite and gentlemanly as the woman herself finally followed her legs out.

She did, he had to admit, look beautiful. She had intense, smoky eyes and full, blood red lips that curled into a lazy smile when she saw him. Her raven-black hair was twisted into a high bun and she was dressed startlingly but simply; she wore a small black cocktail dress that did wonders for her already impressive curves. Her spidery heels clicked as she swaggered over to him and wordlessly held out her hand.

Without missing a beat, he took it softly and kissed her knuckle.

"So glad you could meet me, Miss Kokubo." Kaoru the actor said smoothly. "Shall we skip the unnecessary introductions and go straight inside? It's rather cold today."

_I want to get this over with as quick as possible._

"Of course, of course." Her voice, Kaoru noted, was as smoky and sensual as her dark eyes, but he couldn't help being slightly unnerved by her tone; full of bored arrogance and calculating interest.

He walked her into the restaurant and noticed that she didn't take her eyes off his profile once.

Once they had been seated, they, under Kaoru's casual suggestion, skipped the starter and went straight to ordering the main course. He was surprised at how easily the woman took his slightly obvious wish to hurry up and leave; usually he would fear that they would be offended, but she just looked vaguely amused, like a cat watching a mouse, which it had no intention of catching, panic madly and try to escape.

He only realised what she was thinking when, after a period of business-related small talk, she parted her ruby lips and said causally, "Forgive me for asking, but you're in a difficult position - business-wise - aren't you?"

Kaoru blinked at her in genuine confusion. "I'm sorry?"

"Well," Leiko chuckled darkly, glancing at him from under her heavy lashes, "As the younger twin, surely you'll be working under your brother when the time for inheriting the whole company comes?"

He stared blankly at her for a few moments before hurriedly plastering a fake smile on his face. "Oh, no - we'll both be taking over together."

"A 50-50 partnership?" She tutted, arching an eyebrow and smirking slightly, as if she was amused at his naivety. "They rarely work out, you know."

"Yes, well, I assure you we'll be perfectly fine." He answered shortly, sounding a bit colder than he expected; her holier-than-thou attitude was beginning to annoy him.

"Usually," Leiko pressed on irritatingly, leaning forward slightly, "the _older _twin would take over - or the more _capable_."

She paused to give another low throaty laugh, as if she felt there was really no difference. Kaoru remained silent and was spared having to provide a response by the timely arrival of their main course. He nodded thanks absentmindedly to the waiter and took the opportunity to peer warily over at his poised date.

She had completely ignored the waiter and was giving her expensive meal a critical and bored look. For a few moments, she primly picked up her fork with her manicured fingers and moved the salad around slightly, before she placed it back down and smiled up at him; clearly, it wasn't the food she was interested in.

_Not me either, _Kaoru thought to himself as he smiled back and pointedly began to eat. _From that little speech earlier, she obviously has her sights set on Hikaru. Even though she must know he's married._

He thought of Haruhi and glanced up at her, trying to hide his distain.

_What a witch._

Leiko stayed silent for a few seconds before twitching her ruby lips into a smirk again. Kaoru had the distinct feeling of being preyed upon and slumped slightly; he missed Hikaru. It was so much easier to handle intrusive women with his twin at his side. A few incestuous moments and their intentions changed completely.

"But you're very close to your brother, aren't you? I've heard people say you are."

"Yes, we're very close. We are twins after all." He answered dismissively, looking back down to his plate in an attempt to politely close the topic.

Leiko however, apparently couldn't take the hint or simply chose to ignore it and pressed on. "And his 'wife' too? That pregnant commoner girl?"

"Yes, I'm good friends with Haruhi too. How's your meal?"

"Wonderful." She hadn't eaten a bite. "I apologise for asking so many questions." She smirked, not sounding sorry at all. "But it _is _a most curious topic. No one can quite get their heads around it."

Kaoru hated people talking about his twin's marriage like this; not many people did, but there would always be somebody looking down their snobbish nose at them. It was one thing that would immediately get under his skin and irritate him to no end. He knew he had to keep things sweet or at least professional between them, but he wasn't Kyouya - there was only so much he could take and still keep the mask on.

After slowly swallowing his food, he looked up and said with a little more irritation than he would have liked, "Well, that's very narrow-minded of everyone."

"Indeed." She smiled silkily, looking loftily amused again. "Tell me…"

Across town, Hikaru joked and finally succeeded in making Haruhi laugh. He grinned in triumph and blew her a kiss.

Leiko leaned forward.

"Why on earth did he go for _her_?"

Kaoru took a slow sip of red wine and cocked his head, pretending to think about it.

_Because she's kind, thoughtful and interesting, and you're just a run-of-the-mill gold digger. Find some other way to secure yourself, bi-atch._

Aloud he said, "Well, they've been best friends and dating since high school. She's not as beautiful as you, but he just _adores_ her, you know?"

For some reason, this seemed to please her; she smiled a little wider and lowered her bright ebony eyes to her plate, as if to hide their emotion. "So long…" She mused aloud, satisfied. "And at his time of life as well… how… _boring_ for him."

Kaoru stared.

And then he finally succumbed to immaturity and stuck his tongue out at her, making a face.

Leiko suddenly glanced up and he quickly straightened himself and said sternly, "Yes, yes, a very long time. More wine?"

She frowned, completely unimpressed, but he just smiled back innocently and poured her some more wine, unable to help adding pointedly, "I like this type, don't you? It goes just perfect with your meal as well!"

_Which you haven't even eaten yet._

She sniffed at his comment, took a shallow sip and glanced at her appearance in the glass. The sight of her voluminous good looks seemed to assure her of her own importance, and her next look at Kaoru was back to being lofty and amused.

"Very nice." She praised patronisingly, as though he was about three-years-old. Kaoru had an urge to flick a pea at her. "But I don't feel too well. Shall we leave after dinner? Pudding seems unnecessary - we've discussed all we need to about the company."

"You don't like pudding?" Kaoru asked, raising his eyebrows. "Well, I suppose not. You don't seem like a very sweet person, if you know what I mean."

He beamed at her innocently and for a second a rather ugly look passed over her face; but then it was gone as fast as it had appeared, and she gave him a tight-lipped smile before stating shortly, "I presume you like sweets?"

"Love them."

"Yes. I guessed. Such things suit you," She almost sneered, apparently finding his slight lapse to an immature attitude an offensive characteristic, which she would never find in his brother. Ha. "If you know what I mean." She added mockingly.

Kaoru took another sip of wine to hide his pout and for a while, they ate in silence.

It was slowly occurring to him that he'd done just what Kyouya had casually warned him never to do, when he once whined to him about all the dates he had to attend. _Never_ get emotional during a business date, formal or otherwise. Top executives can be very proud, and you'd be surprised how easily some of them would sever a connection because of a personal grudge. And Kaoru didn't want that, did he?

He sighed to himself. He didn't think that the woman in front of him would do something like that, as it would bring her further away from her 'prey', but he didn't want to risk it. He didn't like _her_, but he knew a connection with her family's company was good.

_It's her fault_. He thought to himself sulkily. _She shouldn't plot about my brother's marriage. At least she doesn't even compare to Haruhi - nothing to worry about there_.

Therefore, after they had eaten and Kaoru had paid, he slipped back into role and held an arm out to escort her, smiling politely. She wordlessly put her hand in the crook of his elbow and stuck her nose in the air as they walked out. It was only when they reached outside and she spotted her car and rather cold looking chauffer that she smiled silkily over to him.

"It was a pleasure dining with you. I'm confident this is the start of an excellent business relationship."

_Liar._

"I assure you the feeling is mutual, Miss Leiko. A pleasure-"

_Liar, liar._

"-And I hope we meet again soon."

_Pants on fire._

"Oh yes." She smirked and peered at him intensely from under her smoky eyelashes, delighting in something he didn't care to know. "I'm sure we'll be working together very closely. And next time, it would be a pleasure to meet _everyone _we shall be working with - your brother has alluded me as of so far."

Without another word, she, never in any doubt of her right to be fawned over, stuck her hand out. Kaoru kissed it once again and just like that, she was gone.

Kaoru watched passively until her car turned the corner on the far end of the street and finally disappeared from view. Then he spread his hands by his head and wrinkled his face in her direction.

"_Bleh_ to you." He called, sticking his tongue out and wiggling it. "What a witch. Stupid witch. Why do _I_ have to be the one who has to deal with these people? Hikaru owes me a hot chocolate."

He huffed sulkily to himself and glanced down to his designer watch, squinting to get the time. 8:30 p.m. Their date had felt much longer than it had actually been. Unlike Leiko, he hadn't let his chauffer freeze outside while he was eating and had told him that he'd phone when he needed a lift. But irritation had made him restless.

Without a clue where he was going, Kaoru began to stride purposely down the road, waving cheerfully at a passer-by who had been watching his childishness in bemusement.

_I never really go for walks_, he mused to himself as he breathed in the crisp air and smiled vaguely as street lights began to flicker above his head. _I should go more often - this is nice. Ah, but Hikaru wouldn't go with me and it might get boring by myself. Huh. Maybe I'll follow Haruhi the next time she insists on going to the supermarket herself._

He looked with interest in all the shops he passed, noting how he recognised brands less and less the further he walked. He passed someone huddled in the alcove of a door, covered with a few rags, and gave him a few random notes from his pocket, deciding that Haruhi would be proud of him; he took the fact the man began to splutter in disbelief as a good sign.

After a while, he saw two children running on the opposite pavement, squealing in delight. They were both wearing gruesome masks and were clutching bulging plastic bags to their chests.

_Is today Halloween? Huh… I guess it is. Man, how did we not realise that? Hikaru, we're losing our touch. _He paused and began to laugh. _Wow, Halloween's so suitable for tonight - when else would I meet a witch?_

He was so busy smirking and sniggered wickedly to himself that he didn't notice the struggling girl in front of him until he - literally - ran into her.

"_Ah_!"

"Eh- sorry!"

Kaoru stumbled and blinked wildly at the person who had - to him - simply materialised out of thin air before him. She was a short girl, a bit younger than he was, and her short dark-ash hair was knocked messily over her face. She was glaring at him with big almond eyes and was wrinkling her already slightly squashed looking nose in annoyance. She was dressed unflatteringly in a baggy grey apron.

Kaoru thought she looked rather cute.

Then he suddenly noticed what her arms were full of; a huge, white cardboard-box, with a stain in one corner and a significant dent at the front. Realising that that was his fault, he jumped and quickly spluttered, "Erm, sorry about that. I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Obviously." She muttered in a voice that sounded like she was talking to herself as she eased open the box right there and glanced warily inside to assess the damage.

Unable to help himself, Kaoru glanced inside too. The box was full of cupcakes, lined neatly next to each other in wobbly lines. Each had a mountain of bright orange frosting, purple edible glitter, and a character made of icing; either a ghost, a bat, a pumpkin or a witch's hat was perched on the tip of the sweet frosting.

_Halloween's following me_, Kaoru decided._ It's mocking me for forgetting its existence. I'm sorry Halloween!_

The girl suddenly reached inside and, after knocking the front straight again, pulled out the only casualty; a very squashed cupcake. She looked at it for a second, as though considering its fate, and then randomly pressed it into Kaoru's hand. He blinked as a blob of frosting fell off and landed on his shoe.

"You have that." She stated gravely.

"Um… okay."

And with that, she closed the box and walked off, leaving Kaoru standing in the middle of the pavement with a cupcake.

He blinked blankly for a few seconds, slightly lost as to what just happened. Finally, he reached down to flick the frosting off his shoe and looked at the mauled cake, using his thumb to absentmindedly flip over the character.

When he saw which one it was, he couldn't help sniggering.

A pumpkin.

_Hm. It seems pumpkins are following me too._

He grinned over his shoulder but the girl had already disappeared into a bakery with a stripy purple balcony. He paused and watched the door for a second but she didn't reappear and he eventually just popped the sugary pumpkin into his mouth and carried on walking.

* * *

**I have a feeling this is a chapter which will seem more substantial later in the story…;; But take it as you find it. I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you liked reading it :D**

**By the way, Leiko means arrogance. I felt it appropriate. ;P She'll be appearing later on too. As will the girl with the squashed nose.  
**

**Thank you very much for reading, and pretty please review! 8D**

**xxx

* * *

**

**P.S. I'm beta-reading a new story. It's a twilight story and any thoughts on it would be very welcome. The author's got a really good plot lined up. ;) So please check it out, if you're interested, the link's on my profile. :D**


	13. Kaoru needs to stop thinking

**Kaoru Needs To Stop Thinking**

**

* * *

**Though she had been slightly daunted by the luxury of it at first, Haruhi had grown to love her and Hikaru's apartment.

She loved the welcoming openness of the main room, where she sat with friends, and the contrastingly cosiness of the kitchen, where she tried to cook while her husband hovered over shoulder. She loved the fact she had her own small study while Hikaru had his make-shift studio opposite the hall, so they could work separately but still only have to walk a few paces to be with each other. But most of all, she loved the bedroom, with the frozen memories stood up on the dresser and the whole city visible through a window.

She liked to lie in bed for while before sleeping and read, with the blinds open so she could look out at the view, the sunlight making every tiny pane of glass glitter. It reminded her of when Hikaru proposed.

Of course that was a shamefully romantic thought, and Haruhi was sure never to let Hikaru know; she'd never hear the end of it.

Haruhi was doing her favourite thing right now, sitting on her bed with her legs curled beneath her, leaning against a pillow and letting her eyes devour the book in her lap. Though there was plenty of things Hikaru _could_ be doing, he was too busy not doing them to do them and was simply lying on the bed with his head in his hands, watching her read.

She was perfectly content ignoring him, until he suddenly let out a whine and annoyingly prodded her side. Haruhi sighed and finally spared him a glance.

"What?"

Hikaru looked up at her tragically and simply moaned, "…Deprived…"

Haruhi snorted, instantly catching onto what he meant. She knew this whining had to come sooner or later. "It's only been a week." She pointed out truthfully, to which he gave her a melodramatic look.

"A week without a kiss! That's horrible! What are we, eighty?"

"It's not that horrible. It's not like we've been apart."

"It _is_ horrible. You can't _ban_ kisses. You're so mean to me."

She snorted again in bemusement and Hikaru pouted, narrowing his eyes sulkily as he prodded her side again. She suddenly looked down at him musingly and admitted, "Though, I didn't think you'd last a whole week."

Hikaru snorted sceptically and raised his eyebrows. "What, did you think I'd tackle you and force you to kiss me or something?"

"Yes," she stated bluntly, amused as he scowled.

"Your opinion of me is so high, Haruhi, really."

He prodded her side again and quickly looked up to her face to see if there was any reaction, but Haruhi didn't even twitch and he sighed dejectedly. Then he heaved himself up onto his knees and promptly plucked Haruhi's book from her hands, eyes suddenly twinkling devilishly as he held it out of her reach and ignored her groan of protest.

"But," he smirked, wrinkling his nose teasingly at Haruhi's deadpan look, "I know you. You're not _that _robotic. Look me in the eye and say you haven't wanted a kiss once. A nice, _long _one."

To his evil delight, Haruhi blushed as she frowned at him. He grinned; he loved chasing the _one_ topic that even now, could make her slightly flustered. Payback for the countless times she'd unknowingly made him blush like mad when they were in school.

"Hmm? What was that, Haru?" he teased happily. "I didn't quite hear you."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah, sure you don't."

He sniggered at her then looked back down to her side, considering something. Haruhi suddenly realised what was going through his mind and quickly tried to shift out of the way, but it was too late; he prodded her again, just below her ribs, finally right on Haruhi's sensitive spot.

He laughed as she immediately jumped and squeaked, slapping his hand away. Triumphant, he instantly wrapped an arm around her middle, carefully trapping her there as he traced a finger along her side, beaming wickedly when she let out a mad giggle.

"Hik- Hikaru, don't you dare," she threatened, trying, and failing, to keep a straight face long enough to glare.

Hikaru grinned delightedly.

"Don't I _dare_…? What a stupid thing to say."

Haruhi involuntarily squeaked again and started laughing as he attacked her weak point, tickling her side mercilessly. He sniggered happily as she wiggled, giggling, all seriousness drained from her face, which made this one of those rare moments she looked care-free.

Hikaru loved those moments.

"St-stop it!" she managed to splutter, hitting his arm again. "Quit it, Hikaru!"

"What's in it for me?" he dared, grinning provokingly.

Not even having the energy to roll her eyes, Haruhi just snorted quietly and, wordlessly breaking the ban that she wasn't that serious about in the first place, lightly kissed his lips.

Feeling pointlessly triumphant, Hikaru beamed and, finally releasing her from his tickle attack, cupped her face happily. He barely had time to firmly press his lips to hers however, when suddenly…

"Hika-_ru_!"

They both moved apart abruptly and blinked at each other as Kaoru's loud whine suddenly sounded through the whole apartment. Then they simultaneously glared in the general direction of the front door.

"_What_, Kaoru?" Hikaru called back, irritated.

"Where are those fabric samples from today?" Kaoru asked innocently. "I need to look at them."

"In the kitchen."

"…Where in the kitchen?"

"On the side."

"…In your bag?"

"Yeah, in my bag."

"…Okay, I got them."

"Good."

"I thought there were more."

"There isn't."

"Where are you, anyway?"

"Upstairs. Bye Kaoru."

There was a thoughtful pause before Kaoru suddenly let out a sheepish laugh.

"_Oh_. Um…okay, bye Hikaru. …Goodnight Haruhi."

"Goodnight Kaoru."

They stayed silent for a moment and listened to the sound of Kaoru the master interrupter's retreating footsteps, followed by the _click_ of him closing and locking the front door.

Hikaru and Haruhi happily went back to what they were doing.

* * *

Kaoru was thinking.

Hikaru often snorted that he always _thinking _and that he _thought_ too much, but he couldn't help it. Something had suddenly begun bothering him and it wasn't going away.

Presently, Kaoru was lazing on the sofa with his brother, absentmindedly flicking through a gossip-riddled newspaper and popping a piece of sticky popcorn into his mouth as Hikaru called Haruhi to watch the movie with them. He lifted his eyes from the newspaper and looked musingly at his surroundings.

He was in Hikaru and Haruhi's apartment. Of course he was. When wasn't he?

Kaoru frowned and moved his eyes back to the paper, though they shifted out of focus and he didn't read a word.

He began to reminisce, his mind working of its own accord.

A few months after Hikaru had proposed to her, Haruhi moved into the apartment with both twins. Kaoru moved out shortly after, in order to be able to walk into a room and not have his self-proclaimed innocence tarnished. Though Haruhi had been forced to witness a long, sincerely tear-filled goodbye scene between the brothers when he left, Kaoru had felt happily independent when he finally stepped into his very own flat - despite the fact he was still only downstairs.

His girlfriend for almost a year - Raku, a bubbly girl he'd met through work - had been incredibly supportive and in her, he thought he might have found what his brother had beaten him to. He was sure he was telling the truth when he said he loved her.

Though he couldn't have been, because feelings like love didn't just fade, did they?

But all of a sudden, they had.

Almost five months before the wedding, Kaoru and Raku had separated and for the first time, he found himself hating the nightly return to his huge, empty flat.

Luckily, Hikaru had chosen then to live up to his big brother title and, in an act of Haruhi-provoked thoughtfulness, denied his twin any chance of being depressed by practically throwing himself back into the vacant main stage of Kaoru's life.

Every night he'd dragged him back to his and Haruhi's apartment to eat dinner with them. Any sign of a deflated mood was coupled with a conveniently timed burst of inspiration from Hikaru, and Kaoru would find himself designing, or painting, or flower arranging. They watched movie marathons until they fell asleep, leaning against each other, and Haruhi had no choice but to throw a blanket over them.

With the insistent and constant presence of his beloved twin, Kaoru felt better remarkably quickly though that didn't change anything. He still had dinner with them almost every night and occasionally stayed so late he couldn't find the energy to tackle the stairs so he just slept in their spare room.

Now, even though they were married, his visits were still almost daily.

This had never occurred to Kaoru as a problem, as he enjoyed spending time with them and he knew they genuinely did too. But recently, he had begun wondering if…

Kaoru's eyes fluttered hesitantly over to Haruhi's stomach as she finally relented and sat next to a smug-looking Hikaru.

_Even if they don't see any problem with it, _he thought worriedly to himself, _maybe I'm getting in the way. Okay, I probably am. They get less time alone with me here. Maybe_, he added anxiously, looking particularly at his brother, _I'm stopping them concentrating on… what they should be._

Hikaru paused in his teasing of Haruhi and suddenly noticed the look on Kaoru's face; half-worried, half-completely-zoned-out. Hikaru sighed. He knew that look.

It was Kaoru's 'I'm-overanalysing-everything-again-and-I've-just-thought-of-something-so-terrible-it-needs-its-own-theme-tune' face.

Well, that's what Hikaru fondly thought of it as.

"Oi, Kao," he drawled, nudging him with his knee and rolling his eyes when he jumped back to life wildly. "What's wrong?" he asked sceptically, raising his eyebrows when Kaoru hurriedly grinned sheepishly at him.

"N-nothing," he muttered with a short laugh. "Just… thinking."

"Duh. You're always thinking. You think too much."

"I know, I know."

He let out another short laugh and hurriedly hid his face back in the depths of the newspaper, instantly flipping the page when he realised he'd been staring vacantly at an article about bikini lines. Feeling his brother's pointed gaze still on him, he quickly scanned the pages for a suitable distraction, not keen on voicing his sudden worry.

After a few moments, he found the perfect thing and, foreseeing his twin's reaction, grinned in triumph.

"Hey, Hikaru, come look at this."

Haruhi watched almost suspiciously as Hikaru scrambled over to look at whatever Kaoru was pointing dramatically to. She paused then sighed and shrugged it off casually, looking back to the opening credits on the television and missing the wicked grin that spread over her husband's face.

Her arms were cosily wrapped around her middle and she smiled softly as she imagined little barely human features and fluttering heartbeats. The feeling of closeness with her babies grew with every day that passed, and her reaction to it took her completely by surprise.

She found it overwhelmingly wonderful.

What would they look like, she mused, when they were older? Like her or like Hikaru? A subtle mix of both? Would they make an effort to be seen as individuals or be as co-dependant as Hikaru and Kaoru, a set as much as they were separate?

One thing she knew for certain, they were definitely _not_ going to end up as the spoilt little brats all her rich friends had been.

…and kind of still were.

"Haru!"

Haruhi jumped as her thoughts were suddenly interrupted and a newspaper was abruptly thrust into her face.

"Look!" Hikaru's grinning face appeared next to it, and his smirk widened as he pointed to a small yellow advertisement in the corner of the cheap paper. "Check out what me and Kaoru just found."

Bewildered, Haruhi looked down at it. When she saw what he was getting so exited about, her face flattened, unimpressed, and she read it aloud in a sceptical drawl.

"'Pregnancy classes - advice and techniques to help you get through your pregnancy'." She glared at him. "You've got to be kidding me."

Kaoru beamed evilly at her behind him as Hikaru winked knowingly, his amusement irking her even more. "But it's pregnancy classes for _commoners_," he elaborated wisely, as if that made all the difference.

Despite the fact that Haruhi was now, being married to him, as rich as Hikaru, she hadn't changed her attitude or life ethics at all. She still refused to have a maid or a cook, rejected anything too expensive, and got exited when she saw a sale on; above all else, she hated wasting money, even though she now had more than enough to waste. With this in mind, the twins had dubbed her a 'rich commoner'.

'You can take the pig out of the sty, but you can't take the sty out of the pig' they had mock-sighed once, earning a slap round the head.

"I don't care who it's for," she snapped, throwing the paper back at him. "Women have been giving birth for thousands of years. Why do I need _lessons_?"

"But look," he carried on, undeterred as he pointed to the advert again. "It teaches you 'relaxation techniques' and 'specified stretches'. Ooh, and I can help too," he added, his grin turning worryingly devilish. Kaoru laughed.

"I have more important things to do than-"

"It's on a Sunday morning," he interrupted quickly, eyes bright. "And, lo and behold, neither of us has work then!"

Haruhi narrowed her eyes at them, fully aware that she was being teased. While the two might have seen the advert and had innocent intentions about wanting to go - maybe it really would be useful - their devilish nature was quickly overthrowing that innocence.

"It might even help the babies."

"That it might, Kaoru. I really think we should go, darlin'."

"For the babies of course."

"Yeah, of course, for the babies."

Haruhi grumbled irritably as she watched them smirk to each other, both probably wondering how many photos they'd be able to take of her in some stupid, giving-birth position.

"I'm not going," she stated firmly, glaring at their amused grins. "It's a waste of time, and you're both just going to use it as an excuse to make fun of me. I refuse to go."

Hikaru swapped a look with Kaoru and sighed dramatically in mock defeat, fluttering his eyelashes at her idiotically as he pouted. "Really?"

"Really."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Even though it might help?"

"It won't help."

"And you're definitely not going to change your mind?"

"Never," she scoffed.

* * *

"Well, Mrs. Hitachiin, thank you very much for making an appointment; we're very happy you chose us to support you along your pregnancy. We'll see you and your husband next Sunday at 10 o'clock."

"Yes, thank you."

Haruhi put down the phone with a _click_, and wondered how the hell they'd managed to talk her into this one.

* * *

**We may never know xD **

**Thank you very much for reading and for all your amazing reviews. I love each and every one of them, and the fact people actually take the time to comment on my story makes me smile so much. Like this - 8D**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! After failing so much in chapter 10, Hikaru got his own bit of win in this one xD**

**Please review! 8DDD**

**xxx**


	14. Yoga sucks, Cupcakes don't

**Yoga sucks. Cupcakes don't.

* * *

**

"I hate you. I really do."

"Why's that, darlin'?"

Haruhi huffed and gave her surroundings a wary glance. "I just _do_."

They were in a large airy dance studio, with a wall-sized mirror covering one side and a set of speakers in the corner. It was their first 'pregnancy class' and Haruhi was absolutely dreading it.

Most of the women who were taking part had already arrived and were chatting to each other happily, all obviously knowing each other from earlier sessions. Despite the fact the advert had informed them that partners were welcome to come along, only a couple of men were there; the few that had tagged along all seemed to be hovering around their respective spouse, trying to pretend they were completely comfortable and occasionally making a gruff comment that mainly got ignored.

Out of all the men present, Hikaru easily looked the most eager. He was happily playing with Haruhi's fingers and grinning wickedly at the yoga mats spread over the floor.

"Hey, Haruhi, _yoga_. Sounds fun, doesn't it?"

"Shut up. I don't know how you talked me into this."

Hikaru just sniggered in response as Haruhi glanced again at the other, significantly more comfortable, women. Though some of them were the same age as her, and one even looked a bit younger, most of them seemed older; in their early thirties, Haruhi guessed with a sigh.

And another thing that was convincing her that they shouldn't be there was that they all looked more _pregnant_ than she did.

They all carried themselves with a careful ease and their shirts covered bulging bellies that put her round not-even-four-month-old bump to shame. When Hikaru had seen everyone, he'd obnoxiously announced in a loud voice, "Wow, Haruhi, you're going to get so _huge_!"

She… hit him.

It was really the only logical response.

"Is this your first time?"

Haruhi blinked and looked up to see a tall, smiling girl, whose blonde hair was scraped back into a high ponytail; she was obviously the instructor, as her stomach was annoyingly flat and toned. Haruhi quickly shook the hand that she was briskly offered and muttered that yes, it was.

"Thought so," the woman grinned, firmly shaking Hikaru's hand as well. She spoke slightly off, with a vague American accent. "I haven't seen your faces before, and I never forget a face! I'm Sarah, the instructor. Don't worry, you'll love it here. It really helps - made things much more comfortable with my little girl!"

She burst out laughing, an annoying 'haw-haw-haw' kind of laugh that made Hikaru twitch, and Haruhi tried not to think of what else she could be doing.

"Hear that, Haruhi?" Hikaru teased, grinning when the woman finally stopped guffawing at whatever she found so funny. "It _really helps_."

She glared at him and was about to snap at him to just shut up, when Sarah suddenly clapped her hands together with a loud _slap_, making her jump.

"Right," she announced, beaming and looking round at all of the expecting parents with a demonic glint in her eye. "Let's get started!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Kaoru had made a momentous decision.

To get a life.

That sounded harsh, but he'd decided that there was no getting around it; since his split from Raku, his life centred completely on his twin.

If he wasn't being set up on a pointless date with a work partner, he was having dinner at his brother's apartment. If he wasn't designing clothes for their show, he was designing clothes for the babies. If Hikaru wasn't bugging him, it simply meant he was the one doing the bugging.

Now that he thought about it, it was a shamefully small amount of his free time that wasn't spent with Hikaru or Haruhi. That was okay when they were younger, but now Kaoru felt an overwhelming to put some effort in to change.

He had to get some independence. Or rather, regain it.

Of course, that was easier said than done.

He could visit his other friends more, like Kyouya or Hunny, but somehow that didn't seem like much of a step forward. He could get a hobby to do by himself, but almost all of his interests he already seemed to do with Hikaru. He could move house so he didn't live two minutes away, but that seemed lonely rather than independent.

With lack of anything better to do, Kaoru wearily decided to just go out. He had no idea to where, but with Haruhi and his brother at that pregnancy class, he felt he might as well, and just see where he ended up. Maybe inspiration for what to do with his personal life would strike while he was walking.

He sighed to himself and mildly looked around him at the golden remains of autumn. He'd asked his chauffer to drop him off at a commoner park instead of walking around his area, where people knew him and referred to him as 'Master Hitachiin'.

The park was quite empty, as to be expected early on a crisp November Sunday morning. He quickened his pace to warm up a bit and looked around him again; the floor was covered in browning autumn leaves that crackled under his feet and dark trees lined each side of the path, branches stretched out to make sharp silhouettes.

It was beautiful. Yes, yes it was. Beautiful and…

Dead boring.

Kaoru huffed and resisted the urge to text Hikaru for some entertainment. Walking by himself was boring. Especially when his thoughts were weighing so heavily on his mind. It had been interesting a few weeks ago, but that had been because he liked looking at the shops and stars and people. Right now, he was just surrounded by sleepy trees and dieing leaves; the sky was a dull white, full of lazy, heavy clouds.

He glanced down at his watch. Half ten. Suddenly making a decision, he swerved and headed towards the park gates that he could see in the distance, blurred slightly by the frosty air.

Some shops had to be open, right? He knew a lot closed on Sunday mornings, but there had to be something. Or someone. Or some _anything_.

Hitachiins hated being bored.

He strode through the gates and immediately started down the first street he saw, smiling slightly in relief when he saw a few people milling around. People were so much more interesting than dead trees.

There was a woman on the pavement with a sloppy beehive hairdo and a worn-out parka, struggling with bags of shopping as a young boy ran around her, chattering like a monkey. Kaoru politely stepped out of the way as she passed and courteously waved off her gush of thanks. The boy eyed him suspiciously as they passed and promptly stuck his tongue out.

Kaoru stuck his tongue out back at him.

The boy stared at him for a second, stumped, then scrunched his face up and wiggled his hands by his ears.

Kaoru went cross-eyed and stretched his eyes with his thumbs, puckering his lips like a fish. He smiled in triumph when the boy relaxed and giggled before happily trotting after his mother again.

Sniggering, Kaoru carried on walking, looking around him in the different shops. There was a salon with outdated wigs in the window and a boutique full of clothes that were decorated with way too many frills; a launderette that looked like it hadn't seen the light of day for years and a quaint bakery with a stripy purple balcony; a fruit and vegetable store that was only just flipping over the 'open' sign and a-

Hold the phone.

Kaoru blinked and hastily jogged backwards a few paces.

There it was again. A small bakery/café with an odd purple balcony and some white old-fashioned tables and chairs outside. It only took a few moments for him to link it back to that Halloween night when he'd ran into one of their employees and ended up with a free cupcake.

_I wonder if they have any more? _He smiled and purposely crossed the road, barely looking as usual, deciding that something sweet was just the thing to cheer him up. _Wow, I'm starting to sound like Hunny…_

He walked straight in, ignoring the carefully typed price list and laughing at the little quote above the door; 'A life without cupcakes is like an otaku without manga'.

The inside was fairly traditional - a curved counter on one side with displays of cakes, coffees and breads and a cluster of white tables and chairs on the other - and it was endorsed with little purple details everywhere, which seemed to be a theme. It had a comforting smell of sugar and dough, and was silent apart from the quiet chatter of a small radio.

Like the streets outside, it wasn't busy; an old man with white hair and a vague whimsical smile was sitting in a chair, cradling a coffee as he stared outside, and a dark-haired girl was doing something behind the counter, preparing for the day.

He smiled contently and bent down to look at the different cakes on sale. There was a whole shelf devoted to cupcakes, a little rainbow of brightly coloured frosting, each with a pristine character or shape worked onto it. Under it was a selection of sugared doughnuts and fluffy muffins, and at the bottom was a line of overflowing sandwiches and baguettes.

Feeling strangely content at doing something as pointless as choosing between snacks, Kaoru scanned them, not bothering to look at the names. The cupcakes were pretty, but it looked like they did good muffins too…

"What would you like?"

Kaoru blinked and looked up. Leaning over the counter to serve him with a vague smile, wearing a lime green apron, was a girl with grey almond eyes and a squashed-looking nose. Short dark hair was held out of her face by a green plaid bandana.

He frowned at her for a second, trying to link a memory to the face, until he suddenly realised where he'd seen her before. Grinning, he jumped up, thrust his finger at her in a dramatic point and announced, unable to help himself, "You're that pumpkin girl!"

She blinked at him, lost, but he knew he was right. Though that night he saw her had been dark and their meeting hurried, he was certain it was the same girl. Now he saw her in the light, he noted that she was closer to his age than he thought; twenty, twenty-one maybe.

"You mean I look like a pumpkin?" she asked after a second, sounding more interested than offended.

"No, no," he said hurriedly, not used to the sensation of remembering someone who didn't remember him, "I mean you were the girl with the pumpkin cake! …Do you remember? On Halloween - I ran into you."

"…Oh, yes," she chirped after a moment of thought, before adding accusingly, "You ruined my cupcake."

"You got frosting on my shoe," he countered instantly, amused.

She shrugged. "I'm sure it looked better with a splash of orange," she reasoned, knowingly. Then the 'please-the-customer' smile returned to her face and she repeated primly, "What would you like?"

_Distractions come in weird places_, Kaoru mused to himself as he smiled and rattled off instinctively, momentarily forgetting he was in a plain, commoner's café, "I'd like an Espresso Ristretto with Belgian dark chocolate coffee syrup and sweetened low-fat cream, and a pear muffin with apple streusel topping, cinnamon and some presto brand butter."

"…Right. Let's make that an Espresso and an apple muffin."

"That sounds good too."

* * *

It took Haruhi less than an hour to come to a groundbreaking revelation.

She _hated_ yoga.

With a _passion_.

It was a ridiculous activity and she couldn't believe anyone could actually like it. It shouldn't exist. And if it really had to, it should come with a roll of duct tape to slap over her husband's stupid smirk.

None of the positions, which Haruhi secretly didn't think helped pregnancy at all, looked too strange when the supple instructor did them, but the moment it was passed onto Haruhi to do, it looked as weird as Kyouya doing a cartwheel.

She knew what she wanted her body to do, but her limbs refused to co-operate. Even 'gentle stretches' - which was all lies, they weren't gentle at all - made her joints whine in protest. Her body was made for turning pages and walking to the shop, not stretching her legs at a 90° angle; she was about as flexible as a peanut.

Of course, the whole experience of pregnancy-style yoga would have definitely been that much more bearable if she'd been alone and been able to comfort herself in the fact that while she was clearly the worst there, some of the other women weren't quite making the stretches either.

But she wasn't alone. She was with Hikaru, who found the whole scenario incredibly amusing.

He sniggered evilly as the chirpy instructor, who was on her hands and knees, suddenly arched her back like a cat then swung her head back and stretched out her leg so it was completely parallel to her body, making a graceful swoop. She didn't even shake as she held the pose flawlessly. Hikaru had to stifle his laughs when he saw the slightly appalled look on Haruhi's face.

"Stretch and hold ladies, stretch and hold! 30 seconds!"

_I can't do that. How does she expect me to do that? I can't do that! I'm freaking __**pregnant**__._

"You heard her, Haruhi," Hikaru whispered teasingly, enjoying himself. "Stretch and hold!"

"Screw you," she muttered back testily, in a thoroughly bad mood. _How_ did they manage to talk her into this again?

To Haruhi's considerable credit, she did actually try the stupid pose. Although she doubted the point of the whole class and she was getting steadily more irritated at both Hikaru and her own painfully obvious inflexibility, she felt she might as well finish this one session. After all, there might - just _might_ - be some sort of benefit to it and they _had_ paid for it.

And yet the option to just run out the door was becoming ever more appealing as Hikaru traced a finger down her wobbly leg and whispered, grinning, "Is that the highest you can get your leg, Haruhi? Honestly, what's that going to stretch?"

Haruhi mused irritably whether it would be considered a 'stretch' if she kicked him in the face.

Like the two or three other men in the room, Hikaru helped steady her and straighten her leg in a way of support. However, _unlike_ the other men, he wasn't looking serious or comforting; he was smirking as if he had a million different innuendos running through his head.

At times like this, she really had to wonder why she put up with him.

"Alright, that's 30 seconds! Good work," Sarah the instructor beamed, returning to a cross-legged position. Everyone instantly relaxed and there was a collective sigh of relief throughout the room; Haruhi took the opportunity to glare at Hikaru, who just smiled back innocently. "A five-minute cool down and we're done for today!"

_A five-minute cool down and I'm done for __**forever**__. I'm never touching a yoga mat again. _

"Alright, everyone," Sarah announced once they were all sitting again, "let's start with some deep breathing. Remember, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Take in as much air as you can and let it out slowly. Try not to move your shoulders!"

Even Hikaru was beginning to get annoyed at the weird way she spoke; it sounded like she thought she was talking to a great-grandmother who couldn't quite hear or understand her, so she needed to speak loudly, with lots of nods and bright smiles.

Then she demonstrated. But it wasn't just her breathing deeply; she sucked in a lungful of air with an audible _whoosh_ and blew up her cheeks like a balloon, before slowly letting the air out through puckered lips.

Haruhi braced herself, and hesitantly did the same.

Instantly, as she'd expected, Hikaru cracked with a snort. He burst out laughing loudly, practically cackling as he pointed at her childishly.

"_Hahahaha_! You- _aha_ - you look like a puffer fish!"

She stopped and glared at him angrily before snapping, "Shut the hell up, Hikaru!"

"_Ha_, sor-sorry but - _haha_ - your _face_!" he snorted giddily, oblivious to the fact everyone was now staring at them.

"Don't laugh at me - you're the one who dragged me here!"

"Aww, but Haru-"

"_**Excuse me!**_"

They both jumped as someone interrupted them by practically roaring from the other side of the small hall. They looked round to see a massive woman jump up with shocking energy and loom over them. She looked like a panda - huge, stocky and round-bellied - and was glaring at Hikaru with such venom that he shrank back slightly.

"How dare you laugh at her while she's carrying your child, you ungrateful bastard!" she yelled violently, apparently so wound up by his immature outburst that she couldn't help herself. Hikaru didn't seem sure of how to react and was just staring at her, frozen. "Be thankful she's doing this!"

"…Uh," he spluttered, bewildered, "Chill-"

"I hate men like you! Taking womankind for granted!"

"No, I-"

"Don't mock what you're ignorant about!"

"I-"

"Laugh again and you'll regret it!" She finally looked away from him dismissively and gave a bemused Haruhi a firm nod. "Don't worry honey," she said supportively, her tone so radically different that Hikaru felt his brain stop working. "I've got your back."

And then the panda-woman sat back down and began huffing and puffing her way through the deep breathing again, as though nothing had happened. The rest of the group seemed used to her violent feminist outbursts and smoothly followed her example, without a single raised eyebrow.

Haruhi stared at her for a few seconds, stunned and bemused, and then turned to glance at her husband. Hikaru looked completely and utterly shell-shocked, as if she'd just whacked him around the face with a fish.

Haruhi paused and smirked slightly despite herself.

_Well… perhaps yoga isn't _all _bad_.

* * *

**For some reason, I thought it'd be fun to write about a violent, feminist pregnant woman. So I did. 8DDD Sorry Hikaru. She came out much more violent than I'd expected...;;  
**

**Lots of people were looking forward to this chapter, so I hope it doesn't disappoint! 8') Thank you for reading!**

**By the way, I need to write something about the other hosts, as they'll be coming in soon and I'm not sure where to add this, so…**

**Hunny****: Married! That's right, married. To Reiko Kanazuki, his girlfriend from the black magic club. Out of all the hosts, I chose Hunny to be the one to get married first. Why not? :3  
He proposed on her twentieth birthday and they got married a few months before Hikaru proposed (it's probably where he got the idea). All the hosts - bar Haruhi - felt distinctly un-manly on Hunny's wedding day.**

**Tamaki****: Going out with ( he prefers **_**courting**_**) Ayame. -insert evil fan girl laugh here- TamAya FTW! XD It works. You know it does. :3 They re-met in a business deal between the companies. **

**Mori and Kyouya****: Single. They're in no hurry. They're cool like that. **

**Thank you very much for reading! Hugs! 8D I hope you enjoyed. Pretty please review~~**

**xxx**


	15. Showing you off

**Showing you off

* * *

**

"Have you managed to visit your mother a lot?"

"_Oui_! I've finished my business now - I'm spending all week with her!"

Haruhi smiled fondly as Tamaki began chattering about all they were going to do together while they had the chance, like a tour of Paris and a few days at Anne-Sophie's house in Barbizon.

Tamaki had spent the last six weeks in France, overlooking the opening of Souh Company's new project, their first European hotel. He had been so busy that Haruhi had hardly heard anything from him but now he was making up for lost time; he had been happily ranting to her about his trip for the past _hour_.

She now knew _exactly_ what Tamaki had been up to for every one of those six weeks, whether she wanted to or not.

Sighing tolerantly, Haruhi moved her mobile to her other ear as he chatted. It was her afternoon off and she was absentmindedly strolling down to Hikaru's work, wearing a woolly turtleneck jumper that reached down to her knees and snugly shielded her from the November chill that was setting in.

"We must all meet for dinner," Tamaki suddenly announced happily, "the moment I get back! All of us just like old times! Plus _les bébés_, of course!"

Haruhi snorted, exasperated. "We can't meet up _the moment _you get back - some of us still have work," she pointed out in a drawl. "And don't you want to spend some time with Ayame?"

"Ah, _mon amour_," he simpered dreamily, no doubt staring romantically into the distance. Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Of course, I can't wait to see her again. It's a pity that she could only come for a week! Does she miss me? Is she exited to see me too? Does she talk about me all the time?"

"When I spoke to her, she said it's nice and quiet without you and she wants you to stay there for another few weeks."

"Ah! That means she misses me with all her heart!"

"Really…?"

"_Oui_! I know, because Kyouya said that too, and mommy always misses me!"

"… I see."

Haruhi rolled her eyes wordlessly to herself, musing on Tamaki's amazing ability to see the world exactly the way he wanted it to be, when he gratefully changed the subject and suddenly sounded rather sheepish.

"Ah, Haruhi, how are…how are the babies? Are they well? Are _you_ well?" he added seriously and she smiled mildly at his genuine worry.

"I'm okay. As well as a pregnant woman can be, I guess."

"Good. Have the babies grown much? I can't wait to see them!"

"Well… they're definitely more _noticeable_. And… you can't _see_ them Tamaki. They're not born yet. Idiot."

Instead of determinedly wailing that the minor detail of whether they were born or not made no difference (as he had before), Tamaki just stayed silent and uncharacteristically hesitated. The few seconds of silence was so rare for him that Haruhi frowned.

"What?" she demanded, quirking an eyebrow.

"Well…" he began slowly, sounding earnest, "I know you think of me as your father," (Haruhi twitched.) "And you've probably been looking forward to me and your children bonding, sharing stories and commoner sweets over a kotatsu table…" (Haruhi twitched again, and wondered what twisted universe this man lived in.)

"But I don't want to be called 'Grandpa'," he finished in a hurry, as though this was genuinely a worry for him (it really was), "because it sounds so old! So old and… _wrinkly_. But do you think they could call me 'Uncle' instead?"

"I really don't care what you want to call yourself-"

"Uncle Tamaki sounds so cuddly!" he suddenly announced giddily, undoubtedly beaming to himself. "So warm and cuddly! I can take them out, Haruhi, to commoner theme parks and playgrounds! I've always wanted to ride on a commoner swing. I'll teach them how not to be like their devilish father, and how the world is brighter when you're me! I'm so exited!"

Haruhi snorted in disbelief at how much thought he'd put into this as Tamaki began to happily sing about all the places he'd take them, and how he'd tell them stories about their 'wonderful mother'.

_There's one thing for certain, they're definitely going to get enough love… Too much maybe…?_

She paused, then smiled softly and said smoothly into the phone, "I'd be happy for them to call you uncle, Tamaki. As for being part of their lives, I wouldn't have it any other way. Just… try not to traumatise them, okay? Seriously."

As Tamaki laughed (she hadn't been joking…), Haruhi suddenly realised where she was. In front of a large cream building with many long luxurious windows, through which splashes of colour were visible. Printed on the glass front door was the slogan 'Hitachiin co.'

She smiled, and eyed the many floors warily. "I've got to go now, Tamaki."

"Ah, okay._ Rester en bonne santé, ma fille! A bientôt!_"

"How many times do I have to say I don't speak freaking-"

"Sorry, sorry!" Tamaki hastily interrupted, laughing airily. "I said, stay healthy, my daughter! See you soon!"

* * *

_Top floor… that's the fifteenth floor… What the hell do they need with so much space? It's an office, not a hotel… _

Haruhi sighed, the facts of big business going completely over her head, and pressed the small button marked '15' with her thumb. The elevator door shut with a soft swoosh and then it silently began ascending, Haruhi being treated to some quiet background music that sounded suspiciously like Hikaru and Kaoru's play list.

Hikaru had insisted that, while she had a free afternoon in which she wasn't being kidnapped by Mei or studying for some reason or another, she should come and see him at his studio, so he could give her a tour.

Basically, he wanted to show off.

Nevertheless, Haruhi had casually agreed, with nothing else to do. She had only been to the building once before, a year or so ago, so when she arrived she'd felt completely lost and wandered up to the receptionist for help. Upon hearing her name, the tiny man had beamed and exclaimed, while pointing to the elevator, "of course! It's the top floor, go right up. Mr Hitachiin has been expecting you all day!"

Haruhi had just rolled her eyes in response, before muttering a thanks and making her way to the elevator.

She shifted her feet awkwardly and lent gingerly against a wall as it inched skywards. She wasn't quite sure where to put her eyes; the walls and floor were so polished that wherever she looked, she saw herself looking back.

In the end, she settled on watching the flashing numbers above the door, which were changing at an annoyingly slow pace.

Just as she began to question the point of her visit, the elevator's doors suddenly slid open and it congratulated itself for arriving with a chirpy '_ding_'. Haruhi quickly bustled through and found it opened straight out into a huge studio.

Despite being so large, it was surprisingly cluttered; it was full of tables and sewing machines and rolls of fabric and clothes and canvases and designs and manikins and other colourful things that were scattered around in an organised chaos. A few people weaved their way expertly though, full of professional enthusiasm, clutching paper and cloth samples to their chests and phones to their ears.

Haruhi found herself instantly liking it. The enthusiastic and determined air reminded her of her university, just more colourful.

She couldn't however, stand there soaking it in forever.

Haruhi looked about her helplessly, wondering whether to venture over to one of the few open doorways around. She couldn't see Hikaru or even Kaoru anywhere and people were starting to notice the random pregnant person hovering in their midst.

_Just ask someone_, she told herself confidently. _Just ask where Hikaru Hitachiin is. Simple._

Haruhi glanced around for someone who wasn't rushing about and noticed a curvy woman standing close by, looking down at some paperwork. She was a rather striking woman by anyone's standards, with her dark eyes and calculating look, but Haruhi wasn't the type of person who was put off by appearances and she walked straight up to her.

"Sorry to interrupt," she said, smiling politely as the woman glanced up, raising a razor sharp eyebrow. "Do you know where I could find Hikaru Hitachiin?"

Leiko frowned.

"You want Hikaru?" she sniffed, giving Haruhi an incredulous look down her nose. She looked critically at the shorter girl's untidy brown hair and comfortable but distinctly unflattering oversized jumper; _why_, she thought disdainfully, _would Hikaru want to see someone like this?_

Then her searching look hesitated at her rounded middle, lingering a few seconds too long. A flash of recognition flicked behind her dark eyes.

_It's that commoner girl._

"Yes," Haruhi answered smiling, oblivious to the scorn running through the other woman's head. "He's expecting me, but didn't bother telling me where he'd be, as usual. Do you know where he is?"

Leiko paused then smiled at her, baring her teeth and stretching her waxy red lips.

"Of course," she said silkily. "I'll get him shall I? You can have a coffee while you wait; just follow me."

Without waiting for an answer, Leiko then turned on her heel and stalked off, leaving Haruhi with no choice but to trot after her. She led her to a doorway she hadn't noticed before, which opened into a small kitchenette. Haruhi smiled fondly as she noticed the bottles of syrup lined against the side like soldiers.

"Coffee's in there," Leiko announced, throwing a careless hand in the direction of a cupboard before she turned back on Haruhi so fast that she blinked. "And you… you're his wife?"

"Yes, nice to meet you," Haruhi said politely; the disdainful arrogance in the other woman's eyes put her off slightly but she still stuck her hand out in greeting nevertheless.

The black-haired woman merely glanced at Haruhi's outstretched hand, amused and not making any attempt to return the favour. After a few seconds, Haruhi let her hand drop.

"The polite thing to do," Haruhi started bluntly, irked at such lofty obnoxiousness, but Leiko cut her off in a voice full of self-importance.

"Do you make a habit of interrupting him during work?" she sneered. "Clinginess is such a disgusting trait."

This was so off the mark that Haruhi felt an urge to laugh; yes, of course, _she_ was the clingy one. _Although_, she mused, _to be fair, I suppose that's what it looks like_. Before she could innocently correct her however, Leiko had started off again, narrowing her eyes.

"Stop forcing your way in. He doesn't need someone like you. You should look for some other way to claw your way up, as you may have reeled him in…"

Leiko looked pointedly at Haruhi's stomach.

Haruhi looked pointedly at the kettle, and wondered if she was ever going to get some coffee.

"…But I assure you, the novelty will wear off fast. You'll bore him."

Leiko smirked at her.

Haruhi smiled back vaguely, musing how she always seemed to get caught up with the chatty people.

"Don't be surprised if-"

"Haruhi!"

She jumped as someone suddenly called her name, but before she could turn round, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders and she found herself being pulled back into someone. Instantly recognising whom it was, Haruhi barely reacted, only once glancing up at the face of the Hitachiin. To her confusion, Leiko was turning slightly pale at the sight of them.

"Getting to know my beautiful wife, Leiko?" the twin said, a layer of fake nonchalance covering his icy tone.

"Oh, yes!" She quickly pasted a huge toothy smile on her face and made a wild, random gesture to the cupboards behind her, face suddenly flushing. "I was just showing her where to get a coffee before I came to find you, Hikaru! …_Lovely_ woman, isn't she?"

"Very," he stated shortly.

Leiko laughed quietly and spluttered, obviously grasping at straws, "Have you finished those plans we were working on yesterday, Hikaru? Already-"

"Yes. You can go now."

Without another word, she hurriedly bustled out, Haruhi watching in befuddlement.

After a few seconds, the man holding her leant down and began to happily nuzzle her neck. Haruhi glanced over as he smirked and breathed, "So… is my Hikaru impression awesome, or is my Hikaru impression awesome?"

Haruhi snorted. "The best," she confirmed.

Kaoru laughed fondly and straightened up, loosening his hold on her so he could correct his hastily changed parting. Haruhi rolled her eyes as he took meticulous care to put every hair back in its rightful place.

"People still mix you up that easily?" she asked in bemusement, lips twitching.

"What do you mean '_that easily'_?" Kaoru pouted, pretending to be offended as he wrapped his arms around her again and leant his head on her shoulder. "I made sure my voice sounded just like him, I'll have you know. And I glared like him and everything. Like _this_," he added, glaring at the kettle to demonstrate.

Haruhi snorted in amusement, and then reached over to tug at his hair lightly. "But you don't even _look _the same anymore. Your hair's slightly longer."

"True." He took Haruhi's hand away from his precious hair and smiled at her lovingly, before happily nuzzling her neck again. "But not everyone's as observant as you, little sister."

She seriously doubted that, but decided to just leave it and change the topic.

"Do you know where Hikaru is?" she asked, trying to look past Kaoru's head to the door behind them. "He asked me to meet him, but didn't tell me _where_. I didn't realise this place was so big."

For some reason, Kaoru sniggered at that and smirked teasingly at her. "Well Haru… I don't suppose it ever occurred to you, being the simple Tanuki that you are, but you could have just _phoned_ him. Using your mobile?"

"…"

"…"

"…I…_could_ have…"

"But…?"

"…But I didn't. Shut up Kaoru. Let me look for him."

After laughing at her and teasingly cooing about how cute she was, Kaoru placed his hands on her shoulders and took a step backwards so he could look out of the door for her. Haruhi sighed and resigned herself to the fact that no, she _wasn't _going to be able to look for him herself.

Why did everyone love doing things for her so much?

"Well?" she prompted after a moment.

Kaoru just made a neutral 'hum' and frowned in response.

He could see his brother on the other side of the room, holding a cordless phone, but Leiko had gotten to him first. She had evidently realised that she'd been fooled, as the back of her neck was bright red, though she didn't bother turning to glare in his direction.

She was too busy standing way too close to Hikaru and pouting her lips as she talked to him. Hikaru looked fairly impatient and was rapping his fingers against the phone, but he still grinned lopsidedly at her when she said something.

Unimpressed, Kaoru sniffed and retreated into the kitchenette, wordlessly wrapping his arms back around his favourite little sister.

Haruhi sighed. "_Kaoru_," she protested, frowning. "Is he there or not?"

"Yeah. With _Leiko_," he muttered, pouting. "I hate her. She's so horrible and two-faced. I don't know how Hikaru can stand working so much with her."

Haruhi nodded slowly, trying to remember whether that was the woman from before or not, and Kaoru suddenly gasped in complete horror.

Flustered, he looked down to Haruhi and spluttered hastily, "Oh, but there's nothing _going on_! I mean, he works with her on the hair design for the show, but that's it! He doesn't _like_ her! He finds her funny! Like, not _funny_ funny but-! There's nothing to worry about; I don't want you to worry about her, because _Hikaru absolutely adores you and wants to show you off and_-!"

"Kaoru."

"-_she's just a_… Yes?"

"What on earth are you talking about?"

Kaoru blinked at her uncertainly, but Haruhi was looking genuinely bemused, the fact she had an evil harpy after her husband going completely over her head. That or she knew that she could trust Hikaru blindly and such things didn't even occur to her as a worry. After a second, Kaoru beamed at her.

"Yeah, you're right," he agreed happily.

"Huh? I didn't say anything."

"What a clever sister I have!"

"…What the hell, Kaoru?"

When he just laughed airily and cuddled her again, Haruhi sighed in exasperation and decided that maybe, she didn't want to know. It was just one of those _Kaoru_ things. Mere none-Kaoru-people could never understand.

There was a sudden shuffle at the door and Haruhi looked up to see - finally - her husband standing in the doorway. He was wearing a loose shirt, the sleeves rolled up into big bunches at his elbows, and his hair was pinned out of his face by a few blue hairgrips.

When he locked eyes with her, Hikaru's face lit up and he beamed. "Hey sweetheart! I've been waiting all day for you!"

She smiled fondly. "Yeah, I've been told. Even though I only had the afternoon off."

He winked at her before glancing over at his twin and waggling the phone in his direction. "Hey Kao, quit molesting my wife. You need to call mom back and give her a report; I did it last time."

"If I must," Kaoru said casually, smiling and finally releasing Haruhi. "But if she tells me we're going over the top again, I'm telling her it's your fault."

Hikaru rolled his eyes then, as he passed over the phone, said suddenly, "Oh, I just ran into Leiko!" Kaoru made no attempt to mask his displeasure but Hikaru ploughed on regardless. "She was acting really weird. She got all confused and thought I was you, then went all red and blotchy, like a bad tomato."

"I bet she did," Kaoru snorted simply as he began punching some numbers into the phone. He was about to leave when a sudden thought occurred to him and he looked over at them again. "Oh, and Hikaru - look after your wife better. There are some scary people about."

And with that, Kaoru smiled smugly to himself and walked out, leaving a confused Hikaru in his wake.

"…Eh? What scary people?"

Haruhi shrugged. "Beats me."

He blinked for a second, then shrugged and happily turned his attention back to his Haruhi. He entwined their fingers and gently kissed her forehead, stepping closer.

"You wanna go and see my awesome designs now?" he grinned, eager to show off his wife- I mean, show off his _designs_. "We've done loads for the show, and we even have some made already. Plus, I've done some extra designs in my break! Maternity dresses! Great, right?"

"Wonderful," Haruhi snorted, smiling in exasperation before a thought occurred to her and she frowned hesitantly. "But are you sure you're not doing anything right now? I can wait-"

Hikaru happily interrupted her by annoyingly placing a finger firmly on her lips; Haruhi scowled at him.

"Haru, Haru, Haru," he mock-sighed, laughing and removing his finger. "I can do what I like. If anyone asks - and no one will -, I'll just say I'm waiting for inspiration to strike. That's what Grandmother always says whenever she goes on a five-month biking trip and it works for her. It's not like I'm busy _right now _anyway."

"I see…"

"Unless, of course," he purred teasingly, wrapping an arm around her waist, "you want to just skip the tour and do something _else_?"

"Nah, the tour sounds good."

"Spoil sport."

* * *

**Leiko, the witch from chapter 11, has made a reappearance. It was short but don't worry - she has another few appearances to come. Great news, right? (By the way, my sarcasm hand is raised so high, I'm tickling the clouds) (and if you know where that quote is from, double points to you! 8D)**

**For this chapter, I actually researched whether pregnant women can have coffee, just to make sure Haruhi wasn't craving something she can't have when she was busy ignoring Leiko. And they can! Just a bit though. Which is lucky for Haruhi, as that's all they seem to drink in this story…;;**

**I really hope you liked this chapter! :D Thank you **_**so**_** much for all of your reviews, and thank you very much for reading. It means a lot. :)**

**Constructive criticism is very welcome. ;)**

**xxx**


	16. Who needs a second name?

**Who needs a second name?

* * *

**

"You again?"

Kaoru glanced up from his drawing to meet grey almond eyes. He grinned and winked.

"Yep. Your favourite customer."

He was sitting in the corner of the bakery awaiting his order and, before he'd been interrupted by the pumpkin girl (he had yet to learn her name), had been chewing absentmindedly on the end of his pencil and staring at his tauntingly blank sketchbook.

Kaoru had gone back to the bakery a few times since he discovered it; at first it had just been because of the nice food and cute setting: the next visit was born from a strange urge to design there, watching the different people bustle about: then he found himself interested in something other than the décor.

While he sipped a coffee, he'd noticed something odd about the pumpkin girl. She couldn't be described as spacey, but she didn't seem to quite be on the same wave length as her surroundings needed her to be.

On the rare times it was really busy and all of the other employees were zooming around as fast as they could, desperately trying to keep on top of things, she would stop and chat mildly to whoever she was serving, wearing a curious expression. If there was nothing for her to do, she'd sit outside, lean her head in her arms and stare at people passing. Once or twice he saw her pass her phone anxiously from hand to hand before quickly escaping into the back room.

In the present, she was looking about the café and tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Favourite customer…" she repeated musingly. "No, I think that has to be _him_."

Kaoru raised an eyebrow and quickly glanced over in the direction she nodded at, to find her looking at that old Englishman who always seemed to be there. He was holding a coffee and staring outside as usual, wearing mismatched shoes and sporting a wilting rose in his button hole.

"Him? Really?" Kaoru sniggered.

"Yes. He sings and tells stories, when he's not sitting there remembering things. He's very interesting. Though he seems to think my name is Betty."

"Right… Well, I'll be second then. I can deal with second."

"Actually-"

"No, no," Kaoru interrupted her quickly, rolling his eyes and holding a hand up. "Let me keep second. I like second. Any less than that and that's just depressing."

She shrugged. "If you like."

_If I like…? _Kaoru rolled his eyes again and muttered a thank you as she placed his drink down, along with the cupcake of the day - vanilla and strawberry jam swirl, with some white chocolate balls. Without even looking to see if she had anymore customers to serve, the girl cocked her head and looked curiously at his blank book.

"Are you an artist?" she asked wonderingly.

"Not exactly," Kaoru smiled in amusement, musing that while interesting she may be, she was kind of a bad employee. "I'm… an aspiring fashion designer. But I like art. Do you?"

"Yes…" she mumbled distractedly, weirdly choosing then to finally look around to see if she actually should be doing something.

Kaoru however, had already scanned the café and deduced she had nothing better to do, so he smirked and kicked the chair opposite out. "My name's Kaoru," he prompted chirpily.

She paused, then sat down with a surprising touch of grace and asked, "Kaoru…? Just Kaoru?"

Then it was his turn to hesitate. He opened his mouth but nothing came out for a second as his mind quickly weighed up his options. Would it be possible that she'd heard of him? All of Hitachiin co, and he and Hikaru especially, had been getting more publicity lately…

He hesitated a few moments longer then blurted, "Yes. Just… just Kaoru. I don't need a second name," he added with a grin, "I'm like a rock star."

"I see," she nodded wisely, as if she felt this was a genuine reason. "Then I'm just Mari."

He smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Just Mari."

"Likewise, Mister Rock Star."

He sniggered, wrapping his hands happily around his coffee, and Mari smiled absent-mindedly before bluntly asking, "But at this time of day… don't you need to be at work?"

Kaoru snorted. "As an aspiring fashion designer," he stated, smirking and tapping his sketchbook pointedly with the end of his pencil, "I'm allowed to wander now and then. Wherever I need to go to get inspired. And I find this place nice and inspiring."

"Really? You haven't done much."

"Yeah, well… I've just got here, haven't I? But for some reason it gives me ideas when I look at everyone here. I imagine what they're like, and what they'll look good in."

She thought about that for a second then said slowly, "So… you're saying no-one who comes in here looks good already."

He froze and, wondering wildly whether he'd offended her, spluttered, "Ah, no, I mean… what they'd look _better _in."

She smiled and laughed quietly before looking down at her baggy apron, which, for some reason, was a garish purple today. It matched the now-purple plaid bandana on her head that looked remarkably similar to a tea towel.

"It's not the most fashionable here," she agreed fondly, her tone oddly detached, "but at least it's colourful."

"Yeah," he laughed sheepishly, taking a tentative sip of his hot drink before adding, "I sketched something good the other day though; Hikaru thought I'd went out and stole it from somebody, because I had no ideas before I left."

"Hikaru?"

He smiled fondly. "Yeah. My older brother."

"You work together?" she pressed, looking interested.

"We do," he confirmed happily, amused. "But what about you?" he asked, smiling at her and missing the strange look that passed over her face when he answered. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Instead of answering, Mari just stood up hastily and fumbled with the chair, pushing it back into place.

"I've got to get back to work," she said, adding feebly, "My break's over."

Before Kaoru could sceptically point out that she hadn't been on a break, she'd just been goofing off, Mari bowed slightly and hurriedly strode off. Bewildered at her sudden departure, he looked round to see her dither around slightly behind the counter, before quickly disappearing into the backroom.

He stared after her for a second, but she didn't reappear so he just went back to staring at his blank sketchbook, wondering what he'd said.

Then he picked up the pencil and, almost subconsciously, began to sketch.

* * *

The next Sunday, Kaoru was walking up to Hikaru and Haruhi's apartment, smiling to himself. He'd just had a coffee at his new favourite café, had a weird conversation about cupcake toppings with Mari, and was now going to meet his brother, so they could go to a host club reunion of sorts. Tamaki was back in Japan so he'd insisted that they all met up.

He smiled wider as he reached Hikaru's floor. He'd gone from being weighed down by everything to being weirdly happy.

Kaoru reached the door and, too lazy to find his keys, was about to knock when it suddenly swung open. He blinked, fist still raised in mid-knock.

Hikaru pouted back at him.

"You're late," he pointed out bluntly as Kaoru promptly skipped inside, musing on his brother's creepily perfect timing with opening the door. _Twin senses indeed…_

"Sorry about that," he apologised airily, before glancing at him and noting Hikaru's moody expression as he pushed the door closed. "What's wrong?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Haruhi," he complained instantly, pouting again. "She's been in a nasty mood all morning and she keeps taking it out on me. It's like the mood swing of death! Now I know what waking up next to Kyouya must feel like."

"Ouch," Kaoru snorted, bemused.

But Hikaru wasn't done and carried on his whine, apparently assigning Kaoru as his personal Agony Uncle. He kind of was. "She keeps shouting at me! She woke up, shouted at me, went to be sick, then shouted at me some more. All I did was hold her hair out of the way! Stupid hormones."

Kaoru rolled his eyes and mockingly patted his brother's head. "Aww. You lead such a hard, trail-filled life, Hikaru, really. I feel for you bro. But just think of what that feminist loon from the yoga thing would say." He grinned evilly. "You're getting a baby out of it, so man it up and deal with it."

Apparently not liking the fact he wasn't getting comforted, Hikaru scowled. Kaoru blinked as he randomly reached over and rubbed a finger across his lip.

"I refuse to be told to 'man it up'," he drawled, holding up his finger, "by someone who has _pink icing_ all over his face."

And sure enough, there was a suggestive pink smudge on Hikaru's finger. Flushing slightly, Kaoru hurriedly rubbed his mouth and laughed sheepishly, cursing the fact he just couldn't resist that cherry cupcake. "Ah. Oops. Um, is it gone now?"

"Yeah." He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Was that from your so called 'bakery'?"

"…so called…? It _is _a bakery, Hikaru. I keep telling you that."

"_Sure_ it is," Hikaru muttered sceptically, rubbing the icing off his hand and eyeing his brother, as if he was suspecting a conspiracy.

Kaoru snorted. "Where else would I go and come back with cake?"

"You mean with _traces of icing_. You never come back with the actual cake. And I've never been there. It might be some freaky fetish club for-"

"_Oh _my God, Hikaru. Stop talking or I'll disown you. Go and check on Haruhi."

Kaoru rolled his eyes as Hikaru sniffed and walked off, muttering something about moody wives, suspicious brothers, and white icing. After Hikaru went upstairs, still sulking dramatically, Kaoru went over to their sofa and was about to collapse onto it and claim the television remote when his phone beeped cheerily, announcing a new message.

Raising an eyebrow suspiciously when he realised it was Tamaki, he sat down and clicked it open.

**From Tamaki: **_Hey Kao, im at da restaurant. Bin w8n agez! Where r u? _゜*。(*´Д`)。*°_ I wana c my Haruhi! Hurrrrrrryyyy plz! ToT_

He glanced up at the clock; it was half twelve. They'd arranged to meet at one o'clock. He sighed, though Tamaki arriving so early really wasn't all that surprising, and hurriedly began to punch in his response.

**From Kaoru: **_Tono, quit texting like that. It's annoying. And insults grammar. Why are you at the restaurant so early?_

**From Tamaki: **_Mei sed dis way ws cool! Da lguage of da commonrz! _(*￣∇￣)~~~ _ + I wntd 2 b ere in case Haru cme early! _

**From Kaoru:**_Baka. Why would she do that?_

**From Tamaki:** _Bcuz she missd meh so much! 8DDDDD_

Kaoru snorted, amused, and was halfway through writing 'Yeah, right, whatever you say, Tono' when he heard some muffled shouts from upstairs. He glanced up warily. _Are they fighting? _

A worried frown crossed his face as he fidgeted awkwardly, wondering whether to run upstairs and calm them down somewhat. He'd hate for them to fight and not be able to enjoy themselves when they went to meet everyone, just because Hikaru wasn't good at dealing with Haruhi when she was in an irrational foul mood.

After a few moments it quietened down again and, after hesitating for a second to listen, Kaoru went back to his phone, feeling slightly relieved.

That relief however, soon disappeared when a panicked shout rang clear from upstairs, sounding so completely horrified that he felt his heart stop for a second.

"_**Kaoru**_! Kao- oh, _shit_. Kaoru, quick! _It's Haruhi_!"

* * *

**Dun dun DUUUUNNN! **

… **sorry. Couldn't help myself. :3**

**I really don't like this chapter. It's not written well at all, but I couldn't work out how to change it. :/ Mainly the last half. I don't like it so much, I could poke it's eyes out with a spoon. If only I had a spoon. …And it had eyes. I'm so sorry. o.o I promise the next will be better.**

**The main thing I wanted to do in this chapter, apart from that amazing fail of a cliff hanger, is sort of establish the start of Kaoru and Mari's friendship. If I did that, then it's all okay. 8') If I didn't... then let's all just forget this chapter ever happened, kay? +.+;  
**

**Please review! ;;**

**xxx**


	17. Bloody Red

**Bloody Red

* * *

**

Hikaru slowed his walk and glared warily at the door to his and Haruhi's bedroom. He wondered if Haruhi had stopped being angry with him for no reason yet. He hoped so. Being yelled at sucked. Especially as he had a tendency to yell back, this just resulting in even more yelling.

It turns into a vicious cycle, like entering the lottery.

Still, he didn't see any reason why she would yell, as he was just going to tell her that they needed to go soon. Plus when they met up with everyone, she was sure to cheer up. Cheering up himself at that thought, he instantly opened the door, not bothering to knock first in case she was still getting dressed. If he knew his wife, which he did, Haruhi would be ready by now. She never spent any time bothering about how she looked, so she'd probably been ready half an hour ago. Maybe he'd catch her brushing her hair if she was running late.

So he unashamedly opened the door and swaggered inside. But what he saw there was so unexpected that he stopped in his tracks, mouth falling open.

Haruhi was sitting on the bed and staring into space, still dressed in the loose white shirt and flannel pants she'd put on after her shower, and absent-mindedly holding a towel to her hair, which looked like it had already dried.

In short, _Haruhi wasn't ready_.

"Hell, Haru," Hikaru burst before he could stop himself, "I don't think you've ever spent more than ten minutes getting ready in the history of _forever_. Are you ill? Could it be you're actually _caring _what you look like?"

Haruhi just blinked and glanced over at him, looking mildly surprised. "…What?" She asked blankly after a moment.

He rolled his eyes despite himself; _could it be that the ever-prompt Haruhi was just spacing out…? That's so weird…_ "And if it's the caring-about-your-looks option, not that that's not great and all, but I chose you something to wear," he commented obnoxiously, throwing a hand to the dress he'd hung up.

It was a long, chocolate-and-lime coloured maxi dress that he'd designed, complete with a brown cardigan and belt. Haruhi frowned at it as though it had personally offended her.

"I can choose my own clothes, Hikaru," she grumbled, proving that her bad mood hadn't faded after all. "I want to wear something comfortable today. That just looks like it'll get in the way."

Hikaru pouted at her, his expression turning into one of horror when he realised that she was referring to the stretchy jeans and light casual blouse beside her.

"You can't wear _that_!" he spluttered in shock, Haruhi instantly giving him an irritated glance.

"Why not?"

"Because you can't! They're _staying-at-home-clothes_."

"For God's sake. They're fine. And they're comfortable. Stop acting like such a snob."

Hikaru glared at her, feeling himself getting completely offended despite the voice in his head wisely advising him to just leave it (the smart part of his mind sounded weirdly like Kaoru). "I am _not_," he snapped, stopping himself from adding that he wasn't because 'he didn't even have freaking _maid_ anymore'.

Which would admittedly sound a bit snobbish.

"Whatever," Haruhi grumbled, dropping the towel as though she'd only just realised that she had no further need of it. "Get out so I can get changed, Hikaru."

"I thought you'd already be ready," he muttered sulkily, eyeing Haruhi's choice of clothes in distain. "We need to go soon. You sure picked a bad time to dawdle."

"Excuse me for having a rest!" Haruhi snapped in a sudden irritation, instantly flaring up and glaring at him like a provoked tiger. "God, just go away and let me change already. You're such a pest!"

"No, I'm-! Fine. _Fine_."

And with that, Hikaru turned on his heel and stormed out, annoyed and grumbling about 'freaking hormones'. He slammed the door closed after him and leaned against it for a second, huffing and glaring, trying to calm himself down. He knew it was immature of him to get annoyed at her but he wasn't in the mood to be mature and rational today. He ignored his conscience's sceptical snort at that thought.

After sulking for another few moments, he sighed and started skulking down the corridor. He'd apologise to her later. Before they met up with everyone else or something. Maybe he'd order her some fancy tuna to clear the air… _Though really_, he sniffed to himself, _shouldn't she apologise too? It's not all my fault._

Just as Hikaru started musing on the injustice of it all, he paused in his walk as he heard a muffled shout from their room.

"Hi-_Hikaru_!"

He hesitated for another second, fighting with the mature part of his brain telling him to go and see if anything was wrong, and the immature part that was just snorting dismissively. _So she's sorry now. God, mood swings or what? She'll probably shout at me again if I went back. _

He paused.

Then Hikaru turned away and carried on walking.

* * *

"No, I'm-! Fine. _Fine_."

I roll my eyes at Hikaru as he storms out, grumbling under his breath. He's so childish when he's in a bad mood, and right now, I honestly don't have the energy to deal with him.

When I'm having morning sickness for the first time in a while, I don't want his fingers fumbling over my face, trying to grab my hair. When I choose something comfortable to wear to visit my friends, I don't him to scrutinise me like his own personal dress-up doll. When I sit down to rest for five minutes, I don't want him hovering over my shoulder like a fly.

These are things that usually don't bother me at all, but today I'm amazingly irritated by them and can't help snapping. I mean, for God's sake. I'm having a rest because I _want_ one. What's wrong with that? I'm _tired_. Tired and… slightly dizzy.

I blink furiously to bring myself back down to earth. I assume it's because I couldn't get to sleep at all last night, but my mind's been swimming all morning and I have absolutely no energy. It's like very faint nausea. Enough to make me feel off and act short-tempered, but not enough to make me hug the toilet and empty my insides.

Well, no more than once or twice anyway.

I sigh, one hand placed comfortingly on my rounded stomach, and look warily at the chocolate-and-lime dress, then at my stretchy jeans and blouse. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to wear what he'd chosen. Hikaru had designed and made it just for me after all, and all the devoted care he'd put into just making me a maternity dress was… sweet? I guess.

Musing mildly on how I've gone from refusing to touch it, to deciding to wear it after he'd left the room for five seconds, I stand up.

And then it happens.

As though I've just stood up into an electric field, a sharp twang shocks the core of my body. Sudden pain blossoms in my stomach like a bloody red chrysanthemum. I gasp and clutch at my middle as it burns in a sudden fire, as if it's just been branded with a white-hot iron.

Something's wrong.

My knees buckle in shock but I don't hit the bed. My kneecaps hit the floor hard and I hunch over as the pain continues to bite, razor sharp fangs digging into…

My blood runs cold.

_Something's wrong._

_No._

"Hika," I gasp, common sense finally kicking in. I try again in a shout.

"Hi-_Hikaru_!"

I hiss through my teeth at the pain and wait for a second but he doesn't come. The door stays closed. Where is he? Oh, God. He must not be able to hear me. And it hurts too much to move.

The pain crackles along my insides, steadily getting stronger, threatening a deadly climax.

"_Hikaru_!" I shout again, real panic beating franticly against my heart, like a bird thrashing its wings. "I need…"

He's not here. He can't hear me. I know I need to go to hospital, right now, because this isn't normal. I'd rather die than let anything happen to my babies.

"_**Hikaru**_!"

Grey circles begin to grow across my vision, blurring everything. The agony in my stomach sends dark red tendrils to wrap around my brain, knocking out logical thought.

"Please, Hika…"

Suddenly a rectangle of faint light appears and there's a panicked shout.

My last clear thought before I surrender to semi-consciousness is; _I can hear the sea_.

* * *

**I found thinking of an argument they'd actually have pleasantly hard to do. :3 And hey look, another cliffhanger! I'm on a roll! **

**XD… 8D… 8) … 8| … 8/… Sorry. Um. Please don't kill me. I'll update soon. I wonder if I over-dramatised this chapter…?;;**

**Uh. Please review!;;**

**And remember, revenge isn't an idea we promote on my planet. :)**

**xxx**

**BTW: Haruhi is almost in her fifth month. This isn't labour. *hides from bombardment of deadly spoons* DDD: I'm sorry~! I'm evil to the characters I love. And I love Haruhi a lot. I'll update soon, I swear. :'3**


	18. Tick Tock

**Tick Tock

* * *

**

When we get Haruhi to the hospital, everything moves too fast for me to keep up.

I carry her from the car myself, bridal style, cradling her desperately against my chest and not feeling the weight at all. I don't know whether she's conscious enough to know where she is; she hates hospitals, says they remind her of her mother.

Her eyelids flutter, open, closed, open, closed, open, closed, closed, closed.

Occasionally she hisses through clenched teeth and curls up as a spasm of pain attacks her. There's nothing I can do to make her feel better. I wonder if she can feel how furiously my heart is hammering, painfully beating a black tattoo against my chest. It hasn't stopped beating so hard it hurts since I found her in our room, curled up on the floor, agony running across her face.

When I bang through the door, nurses swam us like seagulls, white coats flapping like eager wings. Hands appear out of nowhere to take her from me hurriedly and place her into a cold grey wheel chair. Her head rolls and I can't see her face anymore. Everyone's talking, squawking, saying useless words that whiz by me too fast to decipher.

Only one thing I manage to hear. A podgy nurse glances over at me and says clearly, miscarriage?

I glare at her furiously. No, I snap, no, of course not. No, no, no.

They take her away in a whirl of clinical professionalism and I stumble helplessly after her for a few steps, pathetically lost: I only take notice of what's around me when I bump into a doctor who's bustled after her. He takes one look at me and immediately suggests that I go and wait in the waiting room. He'll come and get me after they've done all they can, he adds, trying fruitlessly to inject some kindness into his words.

I'm so scared that I honestly don't think my brain is working. I just blink at him wildly and watch as he scuttles off, only moving when someone takes hold of my elbow firmly and steers me to a padded, scratchy seat. As I sit down, I notice the blood on my sleeve. A shiver of horror runs though me as I yank my jacket off frantically, as if it's diseased.

_Shit-shit-shit._

Kaoru's face suddenly appears next to me, golden eyes peering at me worriedly as he grasps onto my hand tightly. You're shaking, he points out. Put your head between your legs. You look like you're going to puke.

I tell him to shut up but the world is spinning sickeningly around me and I quickly do what he says.

* * *

How do I describe this feeling?

This feeling of pointlessly waiting, sitting, doing nothing, while somewhere a nameless doctor is trying frantically to save my children's lives.

Even if I had forever, I couldn't put this feeling into words. It's the worst feeling in the world.

I notice each and every horrible second that drags by. The slow, slow ticking of the clock is complete torture.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

What are they doing? How do they do it? Save them, I mean. How do they save two precious little lives? It seems impossible. Playing God. It seems hopeless and miserable and I might as well just shrivel up and die right now.

I've never seen them. I've never felt them. I've never heard them. But God, do I love them.

I've never really realised the depth of this before, but I really, really love my baby twins. It's unconditional and immense, and it fills me up completely. I want to look after them and play with them and hold them, more than anything else in the world.

Please, please survive.

Whatever happened to you, whatever they're doing, please let me see you.

Live.

Please.

* * *

I want someone to blame.

As I wait and pace around restlessly, followed by identical sombre eyes, my emotions fly furiously in my head like a swarm of bees, stinging and spitting, bouncing violently against the inside of my skull. I need to pin them down, focus them at one hated point, just to stop myself from going mad.

And, as always in these kinds of situations, the perfect candidate comes to mind and I instantly pour all of my worry and fear onto them, turning it into pointed fury.

I blame myself.

I could have prevented this. I know I could have. There was something I could have done, something that I just never thought of, that could have prevented this. I know it. Moron, moron.

And what was the last thing I said to Haruhi, my beautiful Haruhi, before she started getting ripped up from the inside? I was shouting at her. Some pointless, stupid argument that I can't even remember now. I feel a rush of pure self-disgust. What's wrong with me? Don't I know how to treasure the best thing that's ever happened to me?

My mind runs back through the scenario in disturbing jerks and bursts, and suddenly I'm recalling that moment Haruhi called for me and I just walked away.

What if I carried on walking the second time I heard her shout? What if my immature stubbornness had pulled me forward? What if I had caved into childish temptation and just ignored her?

I might as well have murdered my own children.

Oh my God.

My mind makes more and more frantic links, and they corner and weigh down on me like heavy chains.

It's my fault.

I must have spoken that last miserable thought aloud as Kaoru suddenly looks up at me in alarm. No it's not, he says hurriedly, it's no one's fault. Don't say that, Hikaru. That's not true. Anyway, they're all going to be fine, you'll see. They'll be fine. I promise.

His voice shakes on that last word.

He knows he's in no position to promise such a thing.

* * *

I'm sitting down now, squeezing the life out of Kaoru's hand and staring solidly at the clock. I don't know what the time is. I don't know how long I've been staring at it. It might be an hour, or five minutes. It makes no difference to me; it still feels like a lifetime.

All I can see is the rhythmic second hand, slowly crawling round and round, dissolving each second that stands between me knowing.

Kaoru is sitting beside me, quietly muttering into his phone. My worry's making me squeeze his hand so hard, I can't even tell if he's squeezing it back. And to his credit, he hasn't protested that I'm cutting off the blood flow to his fingers.

Numbly, I listen vaguely to his voice. I think he's talking to Kyouya, and you don't have to be his twin to hear the uncharacteristic edge that torn nerves and worry has left in his words.

No, I hear him say quietly, no, it's been a while since we've seen anyone. I don't know, half an hour maybe? Could be longer. What? Yeah, of course we did. No, I don't know anything. Yeah, I get it. God. How am I supposed to know? Hik-

I mildly note him looking at me anxiously before continuing and saying in a hushed voice, not right now. …A bit, yeah. Can you blame him? But it'll be fine. We'll know soon, right? Right, Kyouya? …Yeah, me too-

And then he freezes and lets the phone slip from his fingers, eyes wide as he notices something behind me. I glance at him, alerted by the break in his hum of constant mutterings, and hastily turn my head too, heart faltering.

It almost stops altogether when I see the doctor standing in the wide doorway, looking for me, the fate of my life written on his clipboard.

I don't know at what point I stood up, but suddenly I'm running to him and demanding to know what's happening. It's all I can do to stop myself from shaking him violently. Tell me what's going on.

He glances at his notes then gives me a steady, sombre look that makes me want to scream. He smoothly says something about Haruhi's blood pressure. Too high. That's what caused the trouble. I really want to tell him that I honestly don't give a damn right now, I just want to know how they are, but I force myself to bite my tongue.

Then, after the longest pause in _freaking_ existence, he smiles.

We managed to help them in time, he says.

They're going to be fine.

I can't help myself. My knees buckle and it's only some arms hastily grabbing me that stop me from hitting the floor. I bury my face in my hands and try to breathe. My eyes feel wet.

Oh my God, I splutter, they're- thank God. Just…

Thank you.

* * *

After a while, they let me go in to see her.

I don't know what they were doing in the meantime. Cleaning up, maybe? I don't know. It sounds stupid, but I'm too scared to ask; I feel like I might jinx it and suddenly everything will come crashing down again, like a magician's act when you know the trick.

The room she's lying in is white, a pure, clinical white. I make a note to tell Kyouya that they really need to think about redecorating. It looks like a void of blankness, a taunting pureness, that suffocates and detaches; a room to forget yourself in. But maybe that's what some people want to do.

And then I see Haruhi lying on the bed, a smudge of colour against the painful white.

Her eyes are closed, so I assume she's asleep. Her face is pale and chalky with exhaustion, as if she's just swum across the ocean. Her hair's been pulled back from her face so it splays across the pillow in messy clumps. One arm is laid out carelessly by her side while the other hand rests on the beautiful disproportionate bump at her middle.

I swear I fall in love with her all over again. Why was I so terrified? Of course nothing would happen to the babies. This is Haruhi we're talking about, my wonderful, wonderful Haruhi. They're being protected by the strongest person I know.

I don't deserve her, do I?

After staring at her for a few moments, I quietly pad over to the bed and kneel next to it. I softly take her free hand in both of mine and squeeze it as hard as I dare.

I'm sorry. I can't say those words aloud, in fear of waking her up, so I keep them trapped and earnest inside my head as I bury my face in the covers and close my eyes. I'm so sorry, Haruhi. I'll try harder, I promise. This was a bit of an extreme wake up call.

Crap. My hands are shaking.

…I'm sorry.

"It's okay."

I blink and look up wildly. Haruhi's not asleep after all; her chocolate eyes are open and wearily looking down at me, a soft smile on her lips.

"It's okay," she repeats, her tone curiously maternal as she moves her hand from her stomach to stroke my hair, trying to comfort me. "We're fine."

I feel like crying again. My heart clenches and words die in my throat.

I almost lost my family. I hide my face in the covers again, simply because I just can't face her, not right now, but I squeeze her hand tighter. I feel shamefully selfish for doing this, practically begging for comfort when I'm the one who should be standing tall and doing the comforting, but I can't help it. Haruhi was always so much stronger. Just look at me; threaten to take something away from me and I completely break apart.

I think she can read my mind, because she doesn't move her hand from my hair and continues soothingly, in a quiet, caring voice that I've barely ever heard before. "It's all okay. The doctor… he just said I have to stay in bed for a few weeks. Rest and keep stress levels low - stuff like that… We can do that, right?"

Right. We can do that. I'll keep you all perfectly safe from now on. I promise. You see if I don't.

"…I love you, Hikaru." Her voice sounds even quieter now, still trying to make sure I'm okay, even though she's so tired that her eyes are drooping. Swallowing shakily, I finally manage to pull myself together enough to move up and softly kiss her forehead.

"I know," I whisper, trying my hardest to smile comfortingly. "I love you too. All of you."

* * *

**:3**

**I like this chapter, simply because I got to twist the writing style to match Hikaru's shaken mindset. I don't know if I succeeded, but hopefully Hikaru's emotions came across. Hopefully, or this was a bit of a fail…;;**

**Um, yeah. The babies are okay and Haruhi's just going to have to stay in bed for a few weeks and take it easy for the rest of the pregnancy. It was only a potential miscarriage! Aha… +.+;; Anticlimactic…?;;**

**Haruhi's pretty devastated that she can't squeeze out those last few months at work. All that paperwork she's missing. Poor girl.**

**Hope you liked! Please review, comments on how I wrote this chapter would be very much appreciated~ 8D**

**xxx**


	19. It's that yoga thing all over again

**It's that yoga thing all over again

* * *

**

After the fiasco of the potential miscarriage, Haruhi spent almost another week resting in the hospital. During this period, Hikaru split his time between sitting next to her, sometimes falling asleep in his chair, and officially moving them from their penthouse to the Hitachiin mansion.

He could tell Haruhi was a bit hesitant about the whole thing, but in the end, she'd agreed. After all, it was his family's house, as much his as it was his parents', and he was expected to move back eventually. Now seemed the best time; it was much more child-friendly than a top-floor apartment and easier for Haruhi to get help if there was another problem with the babies. Though the thought of really living in such a huge, luxurious house completely unnerved her, Haruhi agreed that it was best and resolutely confirmed this to Hikaru every five minutes when he anxiously asked for her approval again.

Their new bedroom was decorated with cool, calming colours and was modest compared to all of the other rooms in the house, though it was still luxurious in its simplicity; the low, king-sized bed was so soft that Haruhi felt like she could sink into it and disappear. It was just down the hall from the twin's old room, which Hikaru was adamant about turning into the nursery.

Haruhi was just amazed at the shear amount of _spare rooms _that they had.

Eventually, after days of hospital visits, removal vans and an exhausted husband, they both moved into the mansion, the next day finding Haruhi sitting up in bed with Hikaru sitting cross-legged in front of her, happily playing with her fingers. He entwined and re-entwined them, twirling his fingers happily through hers and kissing her knuckles with every break in the conversation. He had cheered up immensely now Haruhi was out of the hospital.

"What colour shall we paint the nursery?" he asked eagerly, grinning with a strange sort of awakened vigour. "A bright colour? Something warm?"

She shrugged, vaguely amused by his enthusiasm. "I don't know. A neutral colour, I guess. We don't want to make it pink if they turn out to be boys…"

"How about green then? Pastel green. Or lime green. Or maybe-"

But before he could continue what was sure to be a very long list about all the wonders of the colour green, a sharp knock sounded at the door. They simultaneously rolled their eyes as, the next second, a loud and instantly recognisable whine came from the other side.

"_Ha-ru-hiiii_! Kaoru forced me to knock. Can I come in? I can come in, can't I, _ma_ _fille_?"

"Sure, Tamaki, you can come in," Haruhi called back, noting with bemusement that Hikaru was glaring suspiciously at the door and inching closer to her protectively.

At her words there was an exited '_yip!_' and the door burst open. Before they could register anyone else standing outside, Tamaki ran in with flourishing, waving arms, only stopping a hair's width away from the bedside. Hikaru had a fist raised threateningly in case he tried to do anything stupid, like launch himself at her, but he luckily seemed to have a little bit of common sense and didn't.

"My poor daughter!" he exclaimed loudly, looking at her with wide, tear-filled eyes. "How are you feeling? How are you? Do you feel okay? _How many fingers am I holding up_?"

After irritably knocking away Tamaki's hand, Haruhi tried to smile reassuringly, looking slightly exasperated. "I'm fine, really," she assured him. "You saw me two days ago. I haven't changed since then."

"But you've moved house since then! I've been told it's a very stressful experience!"

"All I did was come home. Hikaru did all the stressful parts."

Just as Hikaru was nodding wisely at that, Hunny's smiling face appeared under Tamaki's arm, emerging so suddenly it was if he'd just popped out of a rabbit hole. "Hello Haru-chan, Hika-chan!" he greeted chirpily, happily holding onto Haruhi's hand. "How are you? I brought you something!"

As Hunny began to excitedly tell them about the enormous cake he'd brought them as a present, which was now residing in their kitchen, Kyouya, Mori and Kaoru finally made their entrance. Out of the whole club, only Kyouya and Mori were walking in normally; Kaoru seemed to be skipping.

"Hello you two!" Kaoru called, looking in a weirdly happy mood. He beamed at Haruhi then unashamedly collapsed on the bed so he was sitting next to his brother as Kyouya exchanged casual pleasantries. "What's it like living here again?" he asked, before ploughing on without waiting for an answer. "It's weird without you upstairs. It's terrible in fact. I can't steal your breakfast anymore so I had to make my own this morning. I managed to set it on fire twice before I gave up."

"That takes serious skill to do," Hikaru sniggered, slapping his palm against his twin's, as if such a disastrous attempt at making breakfast was high-five worthy.

Haruhi was giving Kaoru a worried look and was about to advice him to never to step inside a kitchen again when Mori, the only one who hadn't been able to visit her at the hospital, placed a hand on her head. This was quiet a feat as Tamaki and Hunny were huddled around her, but he still did it. Because he was _Mori_. He could do these things.

"I'm glad you're all okay," he said simply with a small smile.

Slightly touched, Haruhi smiled up at him. "Thanks, Mori-"

"Oh, oh! _Haruhi_!"

And then the moment was completely ruined by Tamaki suddenly waving his arm obnoxiously in the air, as if he was an eager student wanting to answer a question. He took the fact Haruhi was now glaring at him as a sign that he could speak.

"I brought something for you too, Haruhi!" he exclaimed excitedly, plucking a DVD from his pocket and holding it up like a trophy. "And for Hikaru too, I suppose… But I want to watch it with you! I've read it's very helpful! It shows _le processus d'accouchement_!"

The couple took the fact that Kyouya, the only other fluent French-speaker, sighed in disbelief as a very bad sign.

Haruhi was wondering dryly to herself whether she even _wanted_ to know what that was, when Hikaru drawled crudely, "What the _hell_ is 'le process-us-ess d'achoo…d'acco… ac…achoo-chee-ment…'" He paused for a second, then wisely decided that, instead of hurting his brain with more French, he should just mutter, "Well… whatever the hell you just said."

Tamaki smiled.

"_Le processus d'accouchement_," he corrected annoyingly before finally translating. "It shows the birthing process!"

This was greeted with frosty silence.

"It's supposed to help a lot! It tells you so on all of those cute little commoner TV shows!"

"…"

"Aren't you exited? I am! It should be very enlightening."

"…"

"…Haruhi? Are you okay? You've gone a bit pale."

It was a few moments before Haruhi was able to speak again, and when she did a flash of pure irritation shone behind her eyes, leaving no-one - except perhaps Tamaki - in any doubt of what was going on in her mind.

"There is no way," she drawled, twitching, "that I would _ever _watch that DVD, much less with you. It won't help in the slightest, and will just make you act even more like a moron. Sleep talk when you're asleep, idiot."

"But… Haru…" Tamaki spluttered in dismay, his enthusiasm crumbling under the weight of Haruhi's unusually harsh bluntness. He seemed to physically shrivel as he added, "It will… it will help, I promise…"

"No, it won't. It's that yoga thing all over again."

Tamaki's face was now half-miserable, half-bewildered. "Y-yoga…?"

"Yes," said Haruhi grimly. "_Yoga_."

"I see…"

At that point, usually Hikaru or Kaoru would have intervened to add some devilish comment, or at least to tell Tamaki to stop glaring at them suspiciously, but they were preoccupied with something else.

When Tamaki had revealed the idiotic translation of his DVD, Hikaru had glared at him in disbelief and instantly opened his mouth to insult him, or at least let him down in the harshest way possible. Before he'd got the chance to however, the blonde had carried on with his exited rant about how 'helpful' and 'enlightening' it would be, and suddenly the words had died in Hikaru's throat. He'd closed his mouth wordlessly after a second, looking slightly worried and more than slightly confused.

Bemused, Kaoru had silently watched his twin as Hikaru stared uncertainly at the DVD, then at Haruhi and Tamaki, and then back to the DVD, as though he was trying to solve a great puzzle. Getting a vague suspicion of the stupid worry that was running around Hikaru's mind, Kaoru was about to say something brotherly and comforting when he overheard what Tamaki was now saying.

"Please Haruhi, _ma fille_, for me!"

"No."

"B-but… it'll help!"

"Shut up."

After whimpering for a few seconds, Tamaki suddenly looked down at her stomach in a desperate last attempt. "You want to watch," he cooed to the bump under the covers enthusiastically, "don't you, babies? You want to watch how you'll come into the world with Uncle Tamaki!"

At that, there was a disbelieving splutter from the end of the bed and Kaoru's face suddenly appeared from the other side of his brother, looking completely indignant.

"The _hell_?" he retorted, glaring at him incredulously and forgetting the fact he had been planning to comfort Hikaru. "You can't be called Uncle! _I'm_ Uncle."

Tamaki blinked at him for a second then pouted stubbornly. It wasn't fair. Everyone seemed to be picking on him today. "Haruhi said _I _could be Uncle too," he stated, huffing.

As she watched Kaoru glare at him, Haruhi began to wonder dryly whether she should have said that after all.

"I'm the only one who can be Uncle," Kaoru insisted, apparently feeling rather childish today, enough to protect his title at all costs. "You haven't done anything. I've _earned_ it." For some reason, Hunny started giggling at that. "And anyway, Uncle Kaoru sounds way better than _Uncle Tamaki_."

Tamaki gasped in horror and Haruhi swore she could _hear_ his precious ego getting offended. He began to splutter desperately, "B-but… I… I've already made the 'I love Uncle Tamaki' t-shirts…"

"You can be _Friend_ Tamaki," Kaoru sniffed mercilessly.

There was a loud '_**thwack**_' as that caused a huge comic arrow to shoot into Tamaki's chest.

"Or _Ex-sempai _Tamaki," Hikaru added helpfully, smirking.

_**Thwack**_. Another arrow.

"Friend-of-a-friend Tamaki."

_**Thwack.**_

"Blonde-idiot Tamaki."

_**Thwack.**_

"Guy-we-happen-to-know Tamaki."

_**Thwack.**_

"Guy-we-don't-really-know-at-all Tamaki."

_**Thwack-thwack.**_

"Total-stranger Tamaki."

_**Thwack-thwack-thwack.**_

"No wait," Hikaru grinned evilly, eyes shining devilishly bright as he remembered the perfect name. "How about… _Acquaintance _Tamaki."

_**Thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-**__sizzle…_

"Guys…" Haruhi muttered dryly as she watched in exasperation as Tamaki began to dissolve into dust, apparently unable to take the twins' relentless teasing after six weeks without it. She rolled her eyes at them as they cackled evilly, seemingly making up for lost time; Kaoru looked slightly smug that he got to keep his solo title of 'Uncle'. "Can you not tease him so much he disintegrates? Is it so hard to just talk normally?"

"_Ma fille_!" Tamaki simpered from the floor, looking up at her with wide, sparkling eyes. "You _do_ care for daddy after-"

"More _importantly_," Kyouya suddenly spoke up crisply, causing another arrow to shoot into the back of his best friend's head, "how have you been since leaving the hospital, Haruhi? We don't want anymore complications," he added, sounding professional and ignoring said friend's whiney grumbles.

Turning her attention away from a sulking Tamaki, Haruhi smiled mildly at Kyouya, amused at the detached way he showed he cared. "I've been fine. I mean, tired and stuff, but nothing out of the ordinary. Having to stay in bed's a pain though."

Kaoru noticed that his twin's smirk had completely fallen away, leaving another worried frown in its place; he was now concentrating completely on Haruhi and Kyouya's exchange.

"Have you felt any movement from them?" he pressed in a voice that sounded like if he had a notebook, he'd be scribbling in it.

"Not since it happened," she admitted truthfully, a small frown on her face as a hand subconsciously rested on her stomach. Hikaru looked horrified. Haruhi paused before adding slowly, "That's not… bad, is it?"

"No, that's to be expected. They should begin moving again quite soon." To emphasise his reassuring words, Kyouya actually allowed a small comforting smile to cross his face; as touching as this gesture was, it was so alien to his face that Haruhi felt a bit creeped out and was glad when he stopped doing it.

Nevertheless, she still smiled back at him until her attention was drawn away by Hunny, who happily began telling her about the '_good luck with your pregnancy_' charm that Reiko had made her. As Haruhi relaxed into the pillows, raising her eyebrows at the strange wooden rabbit with GOOD LUCK written on it in black ink that Hunny was happily passing to her, Hikaru began to fidget anxiously.

Kaoru watched him and was about to ask what was wrong when Hikaru looked back at Haruhi and burst, "Hey, Haru, I, um, I forgot to ask. Do you want a drink or something to eat or… something? The… doctor said…"

But his words trailed off into nothingness as Haruhi gave him a dismissive smile. "No thanks, Hikaru, I'm fine," she assured him airily before turning back to Hunny.

He frowned and continued to fidget.

* * *

When everyone had left and Haruhi had softly drifted to sleep, Hikaru quietly sneaked out of their room. He closed the door carefully behind him, feeling like something akin to a ninja, and then crept down the hall to his and Kaoru's old room. Once he'd safely shut himself in, he allowed himself one nostalgic glance at the stripped walls before he got out his phone.

He needed help.

Ever since the… _incident_, Hikaru had felt completely determined to look after Haruhi and the babies, resolving to be the best future-father he could be so nothing like that ever happened again.

But the problem was that he wasn't quite sure how to go about it. Kaoru had told him to just relax but for the first time, he felt that his twin's advice didn't help at all. Getting desperate, Hikaru tried to simply involve himself in everything to do with the babies, but then someone like Kyouya would come along and ask or talk about something he'd never even thought of. Movement? It hadn't even crossed his mind.

He hadn't felt this anxious to get everything right since he took Haruhi out on their first _boyfriend-girlfriend _date.

While he'd been uncharacteristically fretting about it, doing a _Kaoru _by over-thinking every angle, a name had come to him. A name of someone so eccentric, so misguided, so downright stupid, that only a desperate idiot would even _think_ of phoning him for help.

Hikaru began punching in the numbers.

Moronic this person might be, but he was sure not to laugh at him and he would have definitely researched it feverishly, being him and all. He must have picked up _something_ useful, right?

"…Hello? Yeah, it- No, nothing's wrong. No, Haruhi's not giving birth. No, she hasn't gone missing. No, she- wait. _What_? Is that even _possible_? …Okay, look, shut up for a second…"

Hikaru paused and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"…It's just that… I wanted your advice, Tono…"

* * *

**What? Me? Like to torture Tamaki? Pish, I don't know what you're talking about. 8D**

**Updates will sadly be slowing, as college has once again stuck its nose into my life. Sigh. But there'll still be **_**fairly**_** regular because… ILoveWritingTooMuch 8DDDD**

**On what I'm sure is a completely unrelated note, Fanfiction keeps showing me adverts about a dating site just for geeks. I wonder if my computer is trying to tell me something…?;;; **

**Anyway. +.+;; Look at my profile! There's a poll! I'm interested in everyone's opinions. :P **

**Thank you very much for reading - I hope you liked it. :3 Please review!**

**xxx**


	20. Anything to help

_**I'm really sorry about how long this took! I've been getting so many essays to do…;; Though in all fairness, I **_**have**_** been writing for this story. Just not this particular chapter;; Writer's block anyone? Sorry again! This chapter is dedicated to NumberSixteen, for reminding me just how long it had been since I updated. ;)

* * *

**_

**Anything to help

* * *

**

While Kaoru was more of a thinker, Hikaru was more of a doer.

If Kaoru had a problem, a worry, he would wordlessly brood on it and think it through, never willingly letting a hint of it slip from his lips until he had exhausted every angle himself. If Hikaru had a problem eating at him, he would immediately have to do something about it, _anything_, or the worry and restlessness would churn around inside him and drive him mad.

They were both different ways of dealing with worry and they never assumed that one was indefinitely better than the other was. Sometimes a situation needed Hikaru's head-on way of solving, while Kaoru thought so much on the emotional details that he missed the big picture and focused so worriedly on his perspective that simpler solutions evaded him. Sometimes a situation needed Kaoru's sensitive, thought-out way of solving, while Hikaru reacted so impulsively and quickly in a need to do something that he ended up acting too rashly and just made matters worse.

Which one was better depended entirely on the circumstance. In the present situation for example, the issue weighing on their minds was Haruhi and the babies' health for the rest of the pregnancy after the miscarriage scare and - in Kaoru's case - Hikaru's reaction to it.

Kaoru had wisely deduced that there was nothing to be done about it so the best solutions were passive; a front of nonchalance, a few comforting words, and a lot of relaxing days in together.

Hikaru however, had to _do_ something.

With Tamaki's chirpy advice firmly in mind, Hikaru clicked the internet open on his laptop and rapped his fingers impatiently on the tabletop while it loaded. He was in his and Kaoru's studio in their company building, the smell of coffee and sugar hanging in the air, his work of half inked designs and documents awaiting his coveted attention pushed firmly to the side. After what seemed to him like a ridiculously long time - but was in fact little over three seconds - Google appeared before him and he wasted no time in scanning it for all it was worth, smiling to himself in triumph when he found a supplier that he deemed good enough.

As he opened his e-mail account and began speedily tapping out a short message to them, a warm weight suddenly draped itself on his shoulders. Without even looking round, he muttered distractedly, "Welcome back, Kaoru…"

"Miss me?" Kaoru teased with a grin as he leaned happily against his brother, though he'd only been gone for five minutes to collect a few of his earlier notes and scribbles. He propped his head up with a hand and cast a bemused look over the growing message on the screen unabashed, as privacy barely really existed between them. "What are you doing?" he prompted after a moment, lips twitching.

"Ordering some things for Haruhi. With a vague hint of a bribe to get it here fast."

"Writing 'get it here under five hours and I'll pay you ten times the amount' is hardly a vague hint, Hikaru. You've even added 'yes, this _is _a bribe'. Subtlety seriously isn't your strong point."

Kaoru sniggered as Hikaru huffed, muttering something about the fact 'it might be received by someone stupid. Like Tono. Or the fat guy off that annoying advert. Or Tono'. The younger twin smirked and gave the message another casual look before he realised exactly what his brother had ordered.

His mouth fell open.

"_Seriously_, Hikaru?" he spluttered, shooting him an incredulous look. "Buying all that... What does Haruhi think? She can't want that."

Hikaru paused before admitting hesitantly, "Haruhi… doesn't know. She was asleep when I left; having a lie-in for once."

"This is probably the only time in Haruhi's life she'll actually have a lie-in…" Kaoru mused with a small laugh. It took Hikaru nodding wisely in agreement and going hurriedly back to his e-mail before Kaoru suddenly remembered that that totally _wasn't_ the point. He quickly got back on track, "So why are you buying all that if Haruhi hasn't asked for it? I mean, clothes and nice things I'd understand, but…"

"Well…" Hikaru frowned slightly, which just heightened his twin's curiosity. Finally, he admitted, "I was talking to Tono on the phone last night because… 'cause I wanted some advice and he was bragging about how much he'd researched it and stuff so he was telling me about it and I thought it might help-"

"Help? Help _what_?"

"Help with… looking after Haruhi…"

"God's sake," Kaoru groaned, before giving him an exasperated glare and flicking his forehead reproachfully. "Hikaru, I _told _you, you don't need to look after her anymore than you are. You know she hates it. Just relax. You don't need to do anything else; you didn't before."

Hikaru was starting to get irritated now; his brows furrowed into a frustrated pout. "Yeah," he snapped, "and look what happened."

Kaoru stared at him wordlessly for a few moments, eventually prompting Hikaru to add, while frowning at his laptop, "I just feel like I have to do something to help, okay? Something I didn't do before. Anything. I know it'd stupid but I just…" His voice turned quieter. "I don't want to risk anything like that happening again. I don't want to feel like that ever again."

Kaoru frowned, his golden eyes clouding with deep-rooted worry that only his brother could provoke so easily and quickly in him. Hikaru wasn't acting like himself. The potential miscarriage had really shaken him up and now he was acting unconfident and almost desperate, the opposite to him normally, and no amount of Kaoru's insistence seemed to get through to him. Kaoru didn't like it.

"But Hika-"

_Knock, knock!_

Kaoru faltered as a loud knock at the door interrupted him before he could suggest that his brother could just have a talk to Haruhi about it. He straightened up and frowned in irritation at the door as Leiko's head appeared, ruby lips curved into a perfect smile and dark eyes shining eerily bright, like two pieces of flint. As Hikaru quickly gathered up his emotions, which were only ever meant for an intimate few, and looked up, she took a single swaggering step into the studio, revealing her ridiculously figure-hugging dress suit.

Kaoru instantly scowled at her and her annoying knack for interrupting him, while her eyes pointedly slid away from him and locked onto his brother. They didn't bother to hide their dislike for each other anymore. It was like when friends stopped being formal with each other, except they hated each other's guts.

"Hikaru," she crowed in her rich voice, offering him a dark smile, as though they were sharing some inside joke. "I'm afraid I have some more documents for you. Just a few trivial matters that need your _coveted_ attention before they can go through."

"Everyone just loves my attention," Hikaru mused with a small smirk as Kaoru huffed and skulked over to his desk on the other side of the room. He made a vague waving gesture at her. "Thanks. Just put them on the side; I'll look at them later or something."

"Of course," she practically purred at him, before walking slowly and purposely towards his desk.

Hikaru was about to go back to his laptop when his phone vibrated loudly against his desk. He quirked an eyebrow and picked it up to find a new message flashing on the screen.

**To:** Hikaru**  
From:** Kaoru  
**Message: **First. Don't click send on your stupid order. Second. How can you stand her? I want to throw my pen at her. 10 points to me if I get it in her eye.

He snorted in amusement and gave Kaoru, who looked like he was almost sulking in his desk with his phone still in his hand, a small grin before glancing sideways at Leiko. She was perching on the edge of his desk and making a great show of crossing her legs. Bemused, he paused before going back to his laptop.

He clicked send.

* * *

Haruhi wasn't impressed.

She was currently sitting with Hikaru on the bed and watching the small flat-screen, which he had the maids install, practically going out of her mind in irritation. Her husband's brain had officially _melted_.

When Hikaru had returned home that day, grinning, he - for reasons Haruhi felt were best left unknown - had an entire _box _full of bananas, a _yoga _mat that Haruhi refused to touch, and a DVD. Not just any DVD. It was a copy of, as Tamaki had once called it so poetically, _le processus d'accouchement_.

Haruhi sighed as the woman on the TV gave another animalistic scream, and shot an exasperated look in Hikaru's direction. His reactions were definitely more interesting to watch, though admittedly twice as cringe worthy. He was staring at it open-mouthed in a kind of horrified fascination, the way one watches a disgustingly gory film, and every now and again the camera decided to zoom in and his face paled to a weird grey colour.

She couldn't quite understand what he was doing. He had been completely dismissive of the idea of watching it when Tamaki had initially suggested it and had obviously been forcing himself to put it on, as he'd felt the need to keep muttering to himself as he put it into the player, "It'll be helpful. Get over it. Tono said it'll be helpful."

Which brought up another point. How did it help, really? She knew how the babies were coming out and she knew it was going to hurt, _a lot_; what was the benefit of watching someone else do it?

Haruhi rolled her eyes as the doctor on the screen suddenly announced that he could see the head and the camera eagerly zoomed in. Hikaru instantly turned a sickly shade of green and quickly scrambled around for the remote.

"W-we don't need to see that," he muttered shakily, jabbing the power button and then firmly slamming the remote down on the side. Haruhi sighed again as he shuddered, muttering something along the lines of '_that was horrible… gore with Haruhi's face…_'. She couldn't help but wonder how he was going to be during the actual thing.

"I told you not to watch it," she drawled, shortly.

"Yeah… that wasn't helpful at all," he decided in hesitant mutter. "Was that helpful? I don't think so. That was gross. Tono lied…"

Haruhi narrowed her eyes as he continued to grumble under his breath; something about telling Ayame she had the hots for a liar. "Why do you keep mentioning Tamaki?" she ventured suspiciously.

"Because…" He paused and gave her a wary look that didn't look right on his face before admitting slowly, "Well… I phoned Tamaki last night and asked him about how I could make sure the babies were healthy - 'cause, you know, he researched it and everything - and what he said kind of made sense - not the bit about air fresheners being poisonous but everything else did - so I…"

He caught the incredulous look on Haruhi's face and quickly jumped up and began searching his coat pockets for something. "Look, he even made me a list. And if it helps the twins, then that's good, right?"

He finally found a small wrinkled piece of paper and held it out firmly. Muttering about the fact '_Tamaki has no idea; he doesn't even _have _freaking children_', she took it suspiciously and looked down at what she was certain was going to be complete and utter drivel.

_1. Encourage all cravings._

_2. Make sure she keeps healthy and fit!_

_3. Learn all you can about the pregnancy._

Haruhi's mouth fell open as she read them. She stared up at Hikaru in horrified disbelief as he began to eagerly explain all the other things he planned to do.

"I got you all these bananas so you can eat them whenever you like, and a yoga mat so you can do that pregnancy yoga when the doctor says you can and this DVD tells you all about how it helps. It really does help, apparently! And I promise not to laugh this time, honest…"

He had taken Tamaki's reasonably sound advice… and _turned it into complete idiocy_. She didn't think it was humanly possible. There was desperate, and then there was just desperately stupid.

For a few moments, Haruhi just sat back in the covers and silently stared at him talk. Then she calmly reached over and picked up the DVD case. She regarded it wordlessly for a second, and then… threw it straight at Hikaru's head.

_Whack!_

"_Ow_!"

There was a clatter as it bounced off his head and landed where it belonged - on the floor - as Hikaru clutched a suddenly red spot on his head and finally looked down at Haruhi in incredulous disbelief.

"You just threw that at me!" he accused.

"I did."

"What d'you do that for?"

Haruhi gave him a dangerously blank glare.

"I'm trying to knock what little sense you have back into your stupid head," she drawled irritably, which was harsh, even for her. When Hikaru just gaped back at her, she shifted and reached over to grab his hand, pulling him closer. Though her strength was pretty laughable, especially after lying in the same place for so long, he still moved and sat down next to her on the edge of the bed - if Kaoru was there, he would have laughed at him. "What's all this for?" Haruhi demanded.

He pouted. "I told you - to help-"

"This isn't helping me." Haruhi gave it all a disdainful look. "In fact, it's probably doing the opposite," she admitted in a grumble, to which Hikaru frowned. He was about to complain in his usual manner when Haruhi spoke up again bluntly. "What's wrong with you?"

"…What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, why are you acting worse than Tamaki when he's having a rant?"

Hikaru gasped, genuinely offended. No, he wasn't! He was just worried! Couldn't a guy try to change without being accused of being an overdramatic blonde? "I'm not acting anything like that," he sniffed childishly.

Haruhi just stared at him intensely for a second, as though she was trying to look right through him and see the little gears of his mind; Hikaru fidgeted, as she usually succeeded.

After a moment, she carried on smoothly and said, "You're acting like I've got a horrible disease or something. I hate it. The person I married treated me the same no matter what." Hikaru stared at her silently and miserably, not really knowing what he could add to justify himself that he suspected Haruhi didn't know already.

"I know you're scared, Hikaru," Haruhi said quietly but frankly, proving - in Hikaru's mind - that she really could read his thoughts. "…I am too. But you're overreacting. How'd you expect me to get though this if I don't have you with me acting like yourself? I… I love you, Hikaru."

Hikaru paused for a long moment, staring at her uncertainly, before a small smile finally crossed his lips. "Yeah," he said softly as, for the first time that day, he genuinely smiled at her warmly.

"That's better," Haruhi commented bluntly, slightly relieved as she smiled back. "Better than that weird face you've been pulling all day."

Hikaru smirked and shifted closer to her eagerly, pretending to be offended. "Weird face?" he repeated, gasping dramatically. "That's my _serious_ face. I know you don't see it that often, but try to be nice to it when you do."

"You kind of looked like you were about to take an exam or something."

"Nah. My taking-an-exam face is more like this…" He demonstrated by placing his hands on his cheeks and stretching his mouth as though he was screaming in horror. He beamed delightedly when Haruhi laughed.

Happily indulging in the newly cleared air and Haruhi's instruction to be himself, Hikaru grinned at her and, after gleefully regaining her attention by saying '_and this one…_' he widened his eyes and pulled the campest face he could possibly pull. Haruhi didn't even need him to elaborate.

"You've just thought of a new design and you 'totally need to go and tell Kaoru _right now_'," she announced confidently, smiling and quickly getting pulled into the sudden game despite herself; in all honestly, she was all too happy to go along with it, for now at least. She was just glad he seemed to have calmed down.

"Lucky," Hikaru drawled, sniggering. He thought for a second, then grinned triumphantly and informed her decisively, "Well, you won't get this one."

He completely relaxed his face, making it totally neutral and expressionless apart from the vague hint of a smile on his lips and the slight widening of his eyes.

Haruhi didn't even hesitate. "You're pretending to be Kaoru," she said, bemused as he mock-pouted at his defeat.

"You know me well," he admitted with a fake-sigh, before smiling and running a hand lovingly through her hair. "One more," he challenged with a cocky grin, before reducing the smile to a seductive smirk and lowering his eyelids slightly.

"Easy," Haruhi snorted, sounding fond but slightly exasperated. "Your kiss-me-because-I'm-horny face."

"_Bzzt_, wrong," he scolded, rolling his eyes dramatically as he leaned towards her. "Disappointing. It's my kiss-me-because-I-love-you face. Honestly, romance Haruhi, _romance_."

* * *

'**3'**

**Suckiness returns... This chapter didn't flow well and the concept's bleh. I know it, yet I don't know how to change it apart from writing it all again and I don't think my little brain could handle that. =.= Sorry about the quality, and the late update, but the next chapter should be better! :D**

**Fingers crossed.**

**Thank you so very, very much for reading and for sticking with my inconsistent story! Please review! 8D**

**xxx**

**P.S. Does anyone know any good mangas? Ouran being over is depressing D: (and I'm not even going to start on my lack of last-HikaHaru-moment). I started reading 'Heart No Kuni No Alice', or 'Alice in the Country of Hearts' in the English volumes, and it's really good! (One of the characters reminds me so much of Hikaru and Kaoru. He has an awesome name too. BORIS. 8DDDD)  
Has anyone else read it? Fangirling is always so much better with a friend.**


	21. Bumps and Babies

**Bumps and Babies

* * *

**

The room was silent, the insulated walls muffling the sound of morning birds chirping happily outside and silencing the quiet chatter from the housecleaners and cooks busying themselves for the day. Soft morning light filtered in from a crack in the curtains and cast a small pool of light across the floor. All was motionless until one of the two figures enveloped in the soft white bed began to shift, rolling onto his side and mumbling to himself.

Hikaru frowned and scrunched his eyes shut to block out any sign of light, burrowing his face stubbornly into his pillow. _Ugh… morning already? Stupid morning._

He yawned luxuriously and, after a groan of complaint, sat up sleepily, stretching out until his fingers crackled in satisfaction. He sat still for a moment, blinking dopily in an attempt to wake himself up, and then looked over at the small clock on the bedside table. It was, it happily announced to him, half six in the morning.

Hikaru stared at it.

"…_The hell_…" he groaned to himself, falling heavily back into the pillows with a tragic expression. "What am I doing up this early? I shouldn't even _exist _this early… Work isn't until ten…"

Grumbling to himself a bit more, he closed his eyes in an attempt to steal another hour or so of laziness, but his mind had officially woken up and refused to shut off. Pouting, he rolled over and stretched a hand out. He smiled when his hand reached something warm and soft, and he happily cuddled into it.

Haruhi barely reacted when Hikaru shifted over to wrap an arm snugly around her, just above the bump of her stomach, and bury his face in her messy hair; she simply sighed softly, still fast asleep.

For a few long, lazy minutes, Hikaru stayed like that, lying next to his wife and breathing in the vague musky scent of her hair and skin. He smiled fondly as he listened to the subtle hush of her light breathing, indulging in the moment. If mornings were like this, then maybe they weren't so bad after all. Sure, it'd be even better if she was awake and cuddling him back, but beggars couldn't be choosers and like hell was he about to wake her up.

He breathed out slowly, so soft that her hair barely fluttered.

Two weeks ago, they were living in a penthouse, Kaoru was always close at hand, and Haruhi was still going to work. Now they were living in his family's mansion, Kaoru was a fifteen-minute drive away, and Haruhi was bedridden for at least another week or so. It was all so different. It was almost scary when he stopped to think about, but exciting as well; if life could change so fast, what would it be like in a year?

He'd have two little substitutes for an alarm clock.

Hikaru smirked slightly and stayed motionless for another few minutes, cuddling next to Haruhi, until a sudden urge came over him. After glancing at her searchingly to make sure that she was still asleep, he got up and sat Indian-style next to her, carefully ensuring the bed sheet didn't pull away from her sleeping form. Then he slipped a hand under the cover and lightly brushed away her bed shirt, so he could place a hand directly on the smooth skin of Haruhi's bulbous stomach, as close to his precious twins as he could get.

He stared at his hand for a moment, before leaning down slightly and muttering almost awkwardly, "Hey… babies. It… it's daddy."

The name felt alien to his tongue. Hikaru paused for a moment before smiling sheepishly and continuing.

"Can you hear me? I don't really talk to you all that much but… I'm always thinking of you. What you'll both be like. I'm really exited to see you; when you're ready, that is. Don't even think of coming out a second earlier, because you'll give me a heart attack. _Another_ one." He gave the bump a reproachful look. It, not surprisingly, didn't react, looking innocent.

_A bump looking innocent? My God, I really _do _sound like a dopey new father. I'll be reverting to baby talk next. At least Haruhi can't hear me…_

After shaking his head at himself and once again glancing at Haruhi to check she was definitely still asleep, he carried on, oblivious to the fact his voice had now risen to a normal talking volume and was unashamedly layered with emotion.

"…I love you. Both of you. So much. I'll try my best to be the best dad I can be, because you deserve it. I might get things wrong, or forget things… but bear with me, okay? I'll keep trying and I'll make sure I'm always there for you. I won't leave, I promise. We'll all be a proper family. Me, Mommy and both of you. And Uncle Kaoru too." He beamed. "I'm getting really excited. I love you two so much already. And… I'm not usually this sappy. I think Haruhi's hormones are transfusing through the air…"

He paused to give this a serious thought. It would definitely explain a lot… After a minute, he shrugged it off gruffly, absentmindedly rubbing a thumb softly and rhythmically across Haruhi's skin. He gave the round bump a quirky grin.

"Are you even awake? Maybe I'm talking to myself. It's weird to think you two could be awake in there, while Haruhi's asleep. Well? Are you awake, my little aliens-?"

_Bump!_

Hikaru froze.

He stared at his hand in shock, his mouth falling open. After a long moment, he swallowed shakily and kept his hand solidly in that place, concentrating with all his might. And then…

_Bump!_

There it was again. A sudden movement, which was undeniably a little hidden foot kicking out against his palm. He was feeling one of his babies move for the very first time.

Hikaru actually laughed out loud in delight, beaming uncontrollably down at Haruhi's bulbous stomach. A mad feeling of amazement overcame him as he rubbed a thumb rhythmically across her skin again, grinning. He leant over and whispered happily, "I take that as a yes?"

He softly kissed the sheet that covered the bump. Haruhi smiled happily to herself and carried on pretending she was asleep.

* * *

Kaoru hadn't been to his bakery since Haruhi had first collapsed. He'd been much more worried about her and Hikaru than he'd let on, secretly fretting so anxiously about them that he'd went to visit them almost every day, not allowing himself even one spare afternoon to indulge himself with a coffee, a cake and a chat with his new friend. Things like that just set him on edge. But now that the crisis was definitely over and done, and Hikaru had stopped feeling so down about how to treat Haruhi, Kaoru finally had some free time.

He smiled contently to himself as he pushed open the painted wooden door to the quaint bakery, a small bell announcing his presence.

It was busier than normal today, he noted. Though for once the old man wasn't occupying his usual haunt in the corner, a man trying to calm down two hyperactive toddlers had claimed one table, while a serious-looking woman typing furiously on a laptop had claimed another. A teenage couple had unknowingly taken over the old man's table and were blushing awkwardly and talking in quiet voices.

Being amusingly reminded of Hikaru as the boy flushed deeply before bravely reaching for the blonde girl's hand, Kaoru turned his attention to the counter, walking slowly over to it so he wasn't hovering there aimlessly as he took everything in again.

He was surprised by how disappointed he was when he saw that Mari wasn't there. Instead, there was a bony boy with a mop of dyed blonde hair who, Kaoru decided sulkily, didn't look cute in the uniform at _all_. The apron was yellow today, and made him look like a dried out weed. Nevertheless, Kaoru still smiled politely at him as he reached the counter and quickly scanned today's selection for something to order.

To his confusion, the moment the boy saw him he rolled his eyes, turned on his heel, and walked straight into the backroom without a word. Kaoru stared after him, baffled, and simply stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, wondering what he was supposed to do. He thought he heard some muffled talking until someone suddenly drifted out of the backroom and stood in front of him, as smoothly as if they were gliding on skates.

It was, of course, Mari, who was wearing the uniform; a plaid apron and bandana in the same shade of yellow as the earlier boy. Kaoru smiled at her, feeling amused at her sudden entrance and a strange rush of relief that she was there - an emotion which, once again, surprised him. He must have missed their little meetings more than he thought. All the things he could afford, and this was what he considered to be his occasional luxury.

Her grey almond eyes regarded him with a serious look.

"You're here," she observed gravely.

"I am, indeed," Kaoru agreed, sniggering despite himself.

She paused for a second then finally smiled up at him, in that vague, dreamy way she did. "You didn't come all last week, after stalking our cupcakes for so long. I thought it might be the apocalypse," she said seriously, causing Kaoru's little smile to falter slightly as he thought back to it, a ghostly feeling of worry at the edges of his mind.

"It almost was," he commented dryly, instantly spotting the wave of innocent curiosity that flashed momentarily behind her eyes.

She paused and Kaoru watched in amusement as she inwardly wrestled with her childlike curiosity, the heated debate clear on her face; evidently, she would suck at acting. After a moment, she opened her mouth and, rather than asking for an explanation, she for once resisted the urge and asked instead, "So… what would you like today?"

Kaoru paused thoughtfully, cocking his head as he glanced first at the fresh selection of sandwiches and then at the dreamy girl in front of him. _Ah, what the hell._

"That depends. When's your lunch break?"

"In about five minutes."

"Then I'll have two lattes and two cheese toasties, please."

If Mari was surprised by this, she didn't show it and simply commented, nonplussed, "I'd prefer ham."

Kaoru smiled. "Whatever you like."

* * *

Approximately eight minutes later, Kaoru was sitting at a table and staring blankly into space, letting his mind wander over whatever it wanted to as he waited for Mari to finish her shift. Occasionally, he glanced over at the teenage couple with a small smirk, unable to help being reminded of his adorably idiotic big brother; when Hikaru and Haruhi had first started going out, they'd gone to a small café not dissimilar to this one and Kaoru had, of course, decided it would be a fun idea to follow them.

Ah, such wonderful blackmail photos he'd snapped that day…

He sniggered quietly to himself at the thought of it, making sure his gaze was now far away from the flustered couple so they didn't misunderstand and think he was laughing at them (he didn't think the poor boy's nerves would be able to take it).

"Are you laughing at them?"

Kaoru jumped and would have probably been fearing an indignant lecture if he didn't instantly recognise the bemused voice as Mari's. After making sure the two were still blissfully oblivious that they'd been noticed, he smiled sheepishly at her and muttered casually, "No, no. I was just thinking of something Hikaru once did. Finished your shift?"

Mari nodded thoughtfully, her lack of baggy apron plainly signalling that she was now on break, though the tea towel-like bandana was still wrapped around her head. He glanced, amused, at her navy parka and the food and drink in her hands, which was residing in to-go bags and paper cups. He could have spoken her next words along with her.

"Would you like to go for a walk?" she asked brightly, apparently oblivious to the fact she wasn't exactly giving him much choice.

He smiled at her then quickly jumped up to take what he assumed was his half of the food. "Sure, sounds good. I suppose it must get stuffy being in here all day working."

"No, I like it in here," she corrected lightly, looking outside with a slightly whimsical smile. "But it's such a nice day today. It's a shame to stay inside."

As they left, Mari made sure to wave causally at the counter, though she was too busy sipping the top of her drink so it didn't spill to look to see if there was actually anyone there to wave to. There wasn't, but Kaoru didn't have the heart to point that out.

It was the midst of December, so despite the clear, cloudless sky and low white sun, it was still crisp and cold, the bracing wind making them both hug their coffee and hunch their shoulders. That hardly seemed to matter to them however, and Kaoru found he was happily enjoying himself. Conversation was regular and refreshingly light, while the silence was comfortable and thoughtful. They walked in a large loop until they came to the park that Kaoru had walked around that time he'd been feeling so lonely. As if to prove to the park that that wasn't the case anymore, he lightly suggested a walk through the frosty greenery.

Mari nodded in agreement before continuing what she'd been saying. Though she seemed to find herself a disinteresting subject, preferring to learn more about the things and people around her, he'd finally coaxed her into elaborating on her family slightly.

"I have a younger brother," she told him almost awkwardly, speaking into the fluffy hood of her coat, "and an older sister. My sister is twenty-three. She's married. I also have a mother and father, and one set of grandparents."

Kaoru raised an eyebrow at the textbook way she listed off her family members. If he'd been the one asked 'tell me about your family', he would've spoken for ages about his twin and Haruhi, and maybe even everyone else if he remembered.

"What're they like?" he prompted.

"They are all very nice," she confirmed vaguely as if she was reading aloud from a book, before pressing her lips together into a firm line, successfully creating the first awkward silence of the day.

_Strange. _He tossed his rubbish in a bin as he passed before taking another sip of coffee and glancing over at her. Her round nose was slightly flushed - from the cold or the topic? - and she was staring blankly into her cup, as if she expected to find some wisdom floating around in there.

Kaoru paused for another second, and then courteously decided to change the subject onto something more comfortable, like art or cupcake toppings. Before he could speak however, Mari had glanced up at him and blurted, "Did something bad happen last week? When I mentioned it you… you looked upset." She hesitated in an extremely rare moment of self-awareness and then looked back down at her coffee, adding quietly, "…You don't have to talk about it. All the magazines say it's better if you talk about things, but they could be lying. I don't know."

_It's better if you talk about it. Tell me what you're thinking, Haruhi._

"What better advice to follow than your own?" Kaoru mused to himself dryly. Though Mari obviously had no idea as to what he was referring to, she still nodded wisely in agreement.

He smirked widely and leaned over to her so they were face-to-face, his eyes bright. "You know, I think I'd like to talk about it," he informed her quirkily. "Telling someone makes it seem more final and in the past, so I'll stop worrying about it and I'll feel better. …Does that make sense?"

She smiled. "Everything makes sense in its own little way," she said lightly, before gliding over to a bench they were passing, apparently deciding it was time to sit down.

Kaoru paused and frowned at that comment for a second, before shrugging it off and going to sit next to her on the bench. She looked up at him attentively, with a look which made him feel very singled out, in a good kind of way. Smiling slightly, he swirled his coffee and took a sip, just so it didn't feel neglected, then said to her, "You know Hikaru?"

"Not personally, but you talk about him a lot."

"Yeah… well, his wife-"

"Haruhi?"

"Yeah, Haruhi - I don't know if I told you, but she's almost five months pregnant now."

Her reaction to this surprised him; she wasn't the type to display loud shows of emotions, preferring a vague smile before her mind wandered again, but when she heard that her eyes shone, her cheeks flushed, and she all but squeaked, "Oh! Pregnant! Really?"

Kaoru blinked. "Yes," he confirmed slowly, trying to hide his amusement. "With twins," he added almost teasingly, just to see her reaction.

"Twins!" she repeated, looking weirdly more excited than he'd ever seen her. "Wow. Baby twins - how cute!"

He snorted as she beamed to herself happily, apparently forgetting they were supposed to be talking about something else. His smirk softened as he poked her round nose teasingly to regain her attention. "That's surprisingly girly of you," he commented.

Mari blinked at him, suddenly looking lost. "…Huh?"

"You sound like you really love babies."

"Oh," she gasped, her cheeks uncharacteristically flushing again as she quickly averted her eyes to her lap. "Um- no, no, I don't love them, really I… Uh…"

Kaoru quirked an eyebrow in bemusement; he had never known her to trip over her words so uncertainly before, though he'd be lying if he said he didn't find her sudden fluster rather cute. Grinning as he mused back to his own reaction to first hearing the news, he added teasingly, "Are you sure? Didn't you just say how cute they are?"

Mari squirmed. "Yes, but… their cuteness… is an evolutionary trait, not a personal opinion…" she explained lamely, seemingly deciding to blame Darwin instead of give up and admit how adorable she found them, for whatever reason.

"I see," Kaoru said, raising his eyebrows in a way which added '…not'.

She frowned at her lap awkwardly for a second, before she suddenly looked up at him, her expression clearing as suddenly as if someone had crossed her face with an eraser. "You were talking about something," she informed him, apparently finally remembering. "About… Haruhi being pregnant. Pregnant with… twins…"

"Yeah…" Kaoru muttered, frowning slightly. "She… almost had a miscarriage." He peered at her sideways as a shocked look came to her face. He hurriedly continued, "I mean, they were all okay in the end. It's just that Haruhi has to stay in bed and take it easy or… or it might happen again. And… if it did, they probably wouldn't survive."

He paused to bite his lip at the thought, vaguely noting that Mari's expression had turned from shock to one of mild interest as she watched his face. She stayed silent as he got his irrational worry of his chest.

Kaoru laughed sheepishly before carrying on. "…I suppose it's stupid for me of all people to still worry about it - it's not like I'm the dad or anything - but I can't help it. Because I don't think Hikaru would be able to handle it if they really did… you know. He totally lost his confidence after it happened."

"You care for him a lot," Mari observed randomly.

He blinked and looked over at her. She cocked her head and peered at him for a second before commenting, "You're really close to Hikaru, huh?"

"Ah… well, yeah." He hurriedly recovered and laughed quietly, before smiling wearily at her and adding, "We're brothers. It comes in the job description."

"Not all siblings are close," she pointed out.

"…I guess not…" He paused and it was a few thoughtful moments before he spoke again, feeling a weird urge to try to explain their bond, however fruitless that may be. "We were very co-dependant when we were younger," he said. "We spent every day together and did everything together; never anyone else. It wasn't until the end of middle school that I really had any other friends. Even now, I don't know what I'd do without him."

"Run out of topics of conversation?" Mari suggested airily, her dreamy tone sounding _almost_ teasing. "You talk about him more than you talk about yourself."

Kaoru laughed sheepishly, all of a sudden painfully aware that he honestly couldn't deny that. Mari paused, then smiled and added quietly, "I think… it's sweet that you love your twin so much."

He hurriedly took another sip of coffee, suddenly feeling strangely embarrassed. He was so preoccupied with trying not to act flustered and moving the conversation onto the 'lovely weather we're having!' that he didn't notice his friend's particular choice of words.

Not once had Kaoru ever specified that Hikaru was his twin.

* * *

**8)**

**I like lame foreshadowing. 8D**

**This might sound weird, but when Kaoru and Mari are together does it seem… Kaoru-ish? Not as in she's exactly like him, but while Haruhi appeals to both twins' personalities, I wanted Mari to appeal more to the most individual part of his personality, that's indefinitely Kaoru (I think Hikaru would get annoyed with her after a while;;). Does that show through at all or do I need to work more on that?**

**Ne'way, thank you very much for reading, and thank you very, extremely, extraordinarily, incredibly, enormously, fantastically, dreadfully much to everyone who has reviewed. I'm very grateful, and my story honestly doesn't deserve such attention…;; Thank you again!;; **

**Constructive criticism makes the world go round!**

**xxx**


	22. Lilies for inlaws

I've realised that I've never written a disclaimer for this story. Huh. I don't feel like writing one. Maybe I'll get sued. If so, Haruhi can be my lawyer.

;)

* * *

**Lilies for in-laws**

**

* * *

**

"Don't worry babies, we're not lost. Of course, we're not. I'm sure I've seen this painting before."

Haruhi scrutinised the golden-framed painting for a second before glancing uncertainly to her right. The hall stretched away from her until it came to a fork at the end, the walls lined with paintings and oak doors. She looked to her left. The hall stretched into the distance that way too, ending in an elegant spiral staircase, which she had just painfully climbed up, much to her ankles' distress.

A dark shadow seemed to hang over her head. She sighed irritably and began to walk towards the split in the hall.

"I'm lost," she groaned, "in my own house. What sort of rich bastard _wants_ to live in somewhere like this?"

Haruhi had finally been given the all clear to leave her confinement of the bed and carry on with her life, as long as she - as she was repeatedly reminded throughout the day - took it easy. She'd been inwardly thrilled by the fact she didn't have to rest so much anymore. Though she hadn't said anything for fear of sounding suspiciously like the twins, Haruhi had been amazingly _bored_ sitting alone in her bed all day. The hours between visitors were lazy and frustrating, her books had grown dull, and she'd felt too uncomfortable to ask the maids for _anything_, never mind more reading material.

The highlight of her day had been Hikaru coming home, which in itself had irritated her to no end because it made her feel like a housewife. And Haruhi Hitachiin (née Fujioka) was _not_ a housewife.

The first thing she did with her regained freedom was ignore Hikaru, don her coat and scarf, and take a long crisp walk through the gardens, which she liked much more than the house. Hikaru had quickly realised that he wasn't going to be listened to and trotted after her, sulking until she held his hand. After slowly strolling around and talking quietly for a while, Haruhi noticed something, which, though it shouldn't have, took her by surprise.

Though she'd only walked around for about ten minutes, her ankles and lower back were already beginning to complain vaguely, threatening what was to come in later months. For some reason, she felt slightly miffed by this, as though her muscles were doing it on purpose and it wasn't just a result of lying in bed for a fortnight and being over five months pregnant with twins. Annoyed, Haruhi had relented and allowed Hikaru to lead her back, before eating a few bananas to cheer herself up (the older twin had been greatly amused by this).

Until her body fully recovered and got its strength back, she could go out but longer journeys were counted in the category of not 'taking it easy', so she'd have to stay on the estate - at least for now.

And it was driving her _crazy_.

Which all leads us back to Haruhi wandering around the more unused part of the mansion, hopelessly lost.

She sighed in exasperation at the ridiculousness of her situation, before deciding to turn right on a whim, as she didn't recognise either of the two hallways. She had previously thought that the Hitachiin mansion would have some sort of pattern to its hallways, so it'd be easy to get around. Unfortunately, unlike its inhabitants, the house was completely unsymmetrical and, in Haruhi's opinion, defied all logic (it was admittedly quite like its inhabitants in that respect).

Maybe she should have just asked for directions…

"I need a map in my own house," she complained to herself grumpily, pausing to inspect a door. She recognised it as Hikaru's father's study, which she had already passed two times already. "For Gods sake…" she groaned, looking about her desperately.

She _really_ should have asked for directions.

Haruhi was about to keep walking when she noticed a door she hadn't seen before, which was painted the same rich colour of the walls, making it blend in much more than the other grand doorways. She paused and then, more in an act of simply grasping for straws than real curiosity, slowly eased it open, ready to duck away if someone was already in there.

To her surprise, it led straight onto a plain staircase that zigzagged down, out of sight. It was made of dark, once-polished wood but wasn't decorated or fancy like the other stairways she'd seen; in fact, it seemed rather cramped and boring after the spacious hallway.

Haruhi smiled. At last. A _normal_ staircase.

She could hear what sounded like muffled voices from below. Though they stopped after a second, she still felt relieved and hopeful as she unashamedly started making her way down the stairs, one hand on the rail, and the other resting on her stomach. Her feet whined with all the walking she was putting them through.

"I wonder what the time is," she mused aloud to herself as she walked past a door and carried on down to the ground floor, her voice echoing slightly against the hard walls.

Hikaru should be home soon. He'd been coming home as early as he could for the past few weeks, even though Haruhi insisted that he didn't need to and he was just being annoying. Each time she said that however, Hikaru would just laugh obnoxiously and ignore her.

He'd been in a ridiculously happy mood lately for some reason, ever since he'd recovered from his worried slump. The type of mood that seemed to put an amplifier on his personality so he loudly filled up every room he walked into. He constantly teased her, irritated her, cuddled her, cooed at her, chatted to her, joked with her, and _never left her alone_.

It was all extremely annoying.

It was also exactly what she needed.

As exasperated and annoyed as he made her, a small, warm smile still subconsciously made its way to her features when she thought of it. He wasn't treating her as if she was fragile, or stifling his vulgar, quick-fire mouth in case he upset her; he was treating her normally. Exactly what she needed.

In other words, he was acting like the idiot he was, instead of the idiot he wasn't.

'I know too many idiots…' Haruhi mused dryly to herself as she finally reached the ground floor, easing herself down the last few steps before walking straight up to the door. Feeling slightly tired, she twisted the handle and pushed it open, not bothering to hesitate. The door swung open easily and she stepped out, immediately coming face-to-face with…

She blinked. "Hikaru?"

Hikaru stared back at her, looking as freaked out as if Haruhi had just appeared out of thin air.

Oblivious, Haruhi merely commented 'Welcome home', before she looked about her in bemusement. Somehow, she had come out into the entrance hall where Hikaru was conveniently just arriving, the maid he had passed his designer coat to still lingering by the door. The door that she had just come from was even more obscure than the one upstairs, looking, apart from a golden handle, exactly like just another stretch of wall. This probably explained Hikaru's freaked out expression.

While Haruhi casually closed the door behind her, Hikaru managed to recover from the odd sight of seeing his pregnant wife apparently walk, nonplussed, out of a solid wall and muttered in a '_what-the-hell_' tone, "Haruhi… what were you doing in the servant's staircase?"

Haruhi paused and looked at him, blankly. "…We have a servant's staircase?"

"Yeah… It's kind of an old house," he explained to her raised eyebrows.

As she nodded slowly and frowned at the indistinct doorway behind her, a ghost of a smirk began to appear on Hikaru's lips. Stepping closer and finally kissing her cheek in greeting, he grinned at her and said teasingly, "You didn't answer my question. What were you doing in there, of all places? It couldn't be that you were _lost_, could it sweetheart?"

Haruhi scowled. "No," she insisted, though Hikaru noticed to his evil delight that she had to avert her eyes. "I was just… looking around. I went to the library." Which was true. It took her a while to actually _find_ their library, but she did go there.

"Mm-hmm." He rolled his eyes and sniggered at her before prompting, "So, how many times did you get lost? Once? Twice? Or have you just been wandering around aimlessly since I left this morning?"

"Shut up," she muttered, making Hikaru laugh loudly.

"You're so cute!"

"And you're a pain in the neck."

Before he could quip that she loved him really, Haruhi started walking towards the main sitting room for some well-deserved rest. When Hikaru yelled after her 'don't get lost!', she looked over her shoulder to glare viciously at him but found that he had trotted after her and caught her up. When she made to move away grumpily, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"Aww, I'm sorry, Haru-darlin'," he cooed, batting his eyelashes at her mockingly. "I missed you all day and teasing you is so much fun. You should've asked a maid if you didn't know where to go."

Haruhi tried not to blush as she muttered vaguely, "That's a stupid thing to have to ask…"

He would have undoubtedly come back with some tactless comment and got her even more annoyed at him, but just then, they reached the sitting room. Not wasting time, Hikaru quickly took his chance by grabbing her wrist and pulling her to one of the long sofas. Then he sat down, tugging her with him into his lap - which was admittedly easier and less painful when her middle wasn't as round as a beach ball - so he could cuddle her happily, burying his face into her hair. Haruhi hesitated awkwardly for a second before finally relaxing into his warmth, content.

They stayed like that silently for a while, until Haruhi remembered something and randomly commented, "New years celebrations start in a few days. Did you say Kaoru was staying for all three days? And… your Grandmother's coming home too isn't she…?"

Hikaru's expression, which had brightened at the first name, dropped into a sulk at the second. "Yeah…" he confirmed wearily. "And Mom and Dad. _Family_ time." His voice was practically _dripping_ with enthusiasm. He paused then added in a lighter note, "When are you seeing Ranka?"

"I told you yesterday."

"…You did?"

She rolled her eyes wearily and then, after giving him a reproachful look, said, "The 31st. We always go to see Mom's grave on the last day of the year."

Haruhi noticed Hikaru hesitate and glanced up at his suddenly slightly worried expression with a cocked eyebrow. He paused then muttered slowly, "You… sure you'll be okay? I mean, we have a shrine here; he could come over instead."

"Nice try. But I'll be perfectly fine."

"…Okay. But aren't we having a lazy, _neshogatsu_ type New Year?"

"We are. As soon as I get back." She gave him a stubborn look and he finally let it go with a roll of the eyes and a sheepish smile. "You'll come too?" she asked lightly as he began to amuse himself by playing with her hair.

Hikaru paused, and then gave her a cocky grin. "Course I will! What sort of husband would I be if I didn't go with you?"

"A pretty crap one."

"Rhetorical question, Haruhi."

"Yeah, I know."

* * *

The days until the 31st, when he could finally see his daughter again, passed very slowly for Ryoji.

He was just really looking forward to seeing her; though he'd visited her both at Christmas and in the hospital, and handful of times in-between, today was special. It wasn't as if he'd been too lonely (not since that-nice-guy-at-the-bar had become that-nice-guy-who-lives-with-Ranka), but their New Yearly visit together to Kotoko's grave was an important tradition.

He sighed.

Even though Haruhi now had a tag-a-along.

The day was clear and bright, and, though the low winter sun shone intensely from the sky, it was one of those days in which appearances were sadly deceiving; the air was bitterly cold. Ryoji stuffed his hands deep into the pockets of his new claret coat and exhaled slowly, his breath turning into a light mist. The entrance to the cemetery was lined with old trees of dark, charred wood, with bursts of wild flowers loudly announcing their presence between them. It could almost be described as beautiful, in a morbid kind of way, but it couldn't hold the man's attention forever.

He was beginning to get impatient and almost fidgety, keen to see his dear daughter again, when he finally spotted Haruhi and - _sigh_ - Hikaru walking up the grey stone steps towards him. They didn't see him and Ryoji was about to call out to them when a sudden thought occurred to him, halting his words. He paused, and then just wordlessly looked at the couple as they made their way up.

Haruhi looked - in his eyes - absolutely beautiful. In contrast to her stay in hospital a few weeks ago, she now looked the picture of health; her cheeks were rosy, her eyes were bright, and the subconscious way her hand rested caringly on her round belly, covered by a pink button-up coat, was so like his deceased wife that he felt his heart ache. She was looking up at her husband in exasperated amusement as he grinned at her, sporting a fitted black coat with a turned-up collar and holding a pretty bunch of lilies loosely by his side.

Ryoji felt that you could tell a lot about a couple by being unnoticed and simply watching how they were together. He'd watched them once as he watched them now, when he'd spotted Hikaru walking Haruhi home from school one day, and it had been at that exact moment that he had really accepted their relationship.

He noticed, as they walked up the stone stairs, that something intimate and warm seemed to radiate from the image of them. Hikaru had his arm around her waist supportively, no doubt forcing her to lean on him slightly as they tackled the mass of stone steps. They were walking so close that Haruhi was practically tucked under his arm, her free hand tucked snugly into his coat pocket - this baffled her father for a moment, as it didn't seem like a very Haruhi-ish thing to do. Though, he admitted to himself, being pregnant and in love did seem to lower one's defences and let quieter, hidden emotions shine through - and Haruhi had plenty of those.

A tentative smile was just tugging at his lips when Haruhi looked round and finally spotted her father. He was delighted at the happy smile that graced her features as she called, "Dad!"

"Hey sweetie!" he trilled happily, striding over and wrapping his arms around her in a bear hug as soon as he got close enough. He squeezed her tightly and added, "How are you, Haruhi?"

She gave a slightly wheezy laugh and drawled, "If I could breathe, I'd be perfectly fine."

He quickly released her. "Oh - sorry Haruhi. I just missed you so much! You look so lovely today." He smiled and his voice softened as he glanced from her middle to her face and bemused expression. "You look so much like Kotoko. Especially with your hair growing out like that."

Haruhi smiled back at him softly, and slightly sadly, before tugging distractedly at a strand of her hair. She hadn't bothered to keep it trim and short lately, for obvious reasons, so it had grown down to her shoulders; Hikaru's new favourite hobby was playing with it, which alternated between being comforting and being annoying, depending on whether he had access to hair bobbles or not. Hikaru was now hovering almost hesitantly behind her and, when Ryoji finally looked over, he gave him what Ryoji felt was a much too cocky grin.

"Hey, Ranka," he said casually, which for some reason made his father-in-law frown irritably.

"Ranka is my alias," he stated curtly, in a tone that sounded like he wanted to add 'moron' onto the end of his statement. He liked Hikaru and accepted their relationship, but that didn't mean he had to go easy on him. "We're family now, not just acquaintances. So call me _Ryoji_."

Hikaru, who had looked a little freaked out at first, relaxed upon hearing that and confirmed effortlessly, "Sure, sure. Ryoji it is. …I thought you was going to tell me to call you dad or something for a second there."

Haruhi rolled her eyes as both men shuddered.

"If you called me dad, I think I'd jump off a bridge."

"If I called you dad, I think I'd jump with you."

"Can we not talk about jumping off bridges so close to the cemetery?" Haruhi asked dryly, sighing when they both pouted; maybe insulting each other was how they bonded? '_Whatever_', she thought dismissively, before motioning towards the dark iron gates. "Let's go."

Ranka moved first and quickly took his daughter's hand as they walked in, shooting his son-in-law a triumphant smirk over oblivious Haruhi's head. Hikaru pouted and stuffed his free hand into his pocket.

Haruhi felt a weight grow on her heart as they passed rows of stone graves, some decorated with flowers and others obscured from view under a thin layer of dead, decaying leaves. There was, as expected for New Years, several other people there with their heads bowed, though the area in which Kotoko's memory was preserved was blissfully empty. As they reached it, Ryoji automatically started clearing it from leaves and flyaway pieces of grass and Haruhi started lighting some incense. Hikaru panicked slightly and hurriedly decided to just help Ryoji, placing the white lillies on the ground beside him.

When Haruhi finished, she sat back and looked wordlessly at her mother's name. She found herself getting that same, almost empty feeling she'd gotten before the wedding. Though her mother remained and would always remain a large part of her life, and she always talked to her when she was confused, as if she was an agony aunt but Haruhi had to give herself the advice, something had occurred to her that dampened her heart.

Did she really know her mother at all?

She had died when Haruhi was just four years old; all she knew about her was a handful of precious memories and her father's stories. But what was that? Not much at all, really, when it came to understanding a real person. How could they know what she would think about everything?

A rational part of her pointed out that taking everything about her mother into account, it was unlikely that she would be anything but thrilled about everything that her daughter had done. She had always been secure in this view, but now that she was reaching milestones in her life that a mother really should be there for, she couldn't help a smaller train of thought making itself known.

It was sad. The fact her mother wasn't with her, and the fact she could never be sure. It was so sad.

_"I wish my mother was here…"_

Haruhi stared at the stone.

_Dear mother in heaven… How are you? My life has changed so much this year. I've now been married for five months, and pregnant for the same amount. That's entirely Hikaru's fault, though I don't regret anything at all. I'm incredibly happy with my life._

_…What about you? If you could say anything to me, Mother, what would you say?_

_…What would you say to your grandchildren?_

She lowered her eyes.

"You know, Haruhi," Ryoji suddenly began, a soft smile on his face as Haruhi blinked and lifted her head to look at him. "Kotoko would be so happy for you, and so proud. Just like I am. You know that, don't you?"

After a pause, Haruhi smiled slowly. She went to speak but found a lump in her throat and had to swallow shakily instead. To her genuine surprise, she realised that her eyes were wet, spiked with rare tears that blurred her vision. When she raised a hand to quickly rub them away, Hikaru noticed her watery eyes with some alarm; he could count on one hand the amount of times he had ever actually seen Haruhi cry. He found this so out of the blue that he panicked slightly and so Ryoji, who was much more in-tune with a woman's feelings than poor Hikaru would ever be, acted first.

He wrapped an arm securely around his daughter and gave her a comforting squeeze as she rubbed her eyes, slightly embarrassed. Hikaru watched as they swapped a small smile.

Up to now, he had been feeling a little awkward and out of place in the intimate 'Fujioka family' setting, paying respects to someone he had never even met (though he was endlessly grateful to the woman for giving him his precious wife). But as he watched them he suddenly realised that that was the wrong way to think of it. He was there for Haruhi. That always came first.

He smoothly put the lilies in front of Kotoko's grave and then took Haruhi's hand, entwining their fingers. She glanced over and he gazed back intensely with his golden eyes, squeezing her hand in a way he hoped was supportive. She paused, and then gave him a cocked smiled which was half-bemused and half-appreciative, squeezing his hand back.

Ryoji rolled his eyes.

They stayed there for a while, silent for most of the time apart from falling now and then into reminiscing conversation, which occasionally left Hikaru in the dark with all the references to commoner life. Eventually, talk turned to leaving and going to have a drink to end the day.

Hikaru made a point of jumping up first and eagerly sticking out a hand to his wife, who promptly ignored it and stood up by herself. He pouted sulkily and then, when he noticed her wearily stretch her muscles when she stood up, he made himself feel better by wrapping an arm around her waist and forcing her to rest slightly by leaning against him whether she liked it or not. Haruhi frowned at him for a second, before letting it go with a roll of her eyes and glancing down at her father, who had yet to move.

She paused and then asked quietly, "…Dad?"

"I'll just be a minute, Haru. Go on ahead."

"Sure. We'll wait by the entrance."

Ryoji paused, and then looked up and watched the couple walk off, Hikaru's arm snugly around her and Haruhi's condition obvious even from behind. He sighed and bowed his head again in front of his late wife's grave.

Then he smiled.

"Ah, Kotoko… just look at our daughter now..."

* * *

**Darn you last sentence, for being so... annoying. And un-good. I spent a stupidly long time trying to think of something short and sweet for Ryoji to say... But y'know, other than that, I quite like this chapter;; I hope you enjoyed it! I hope you like Hika and Ryoji's relationship too; the manga didn't have much to go on, so somehow it ended up as a affectionate/competitive type thing. Somehow...;;**

**Thank you very much for reading, and please review! It means a lot. :3**

**xxx**

**P.S. When Hika mentions them having a _neshogatsu_ type New Year, it basically just means they celebrate New Year by staying at home with family and being awesomely, _awesomely_ lazy for the whole thing. The Japanese have such great ideas. I want a New Year like that. :D**


	23. Copper cupid

**Copper Cupid

* * *

**

Kaoru was officially in an awesome mood.

This was partly because, though it was the last day, it was still the New Year's celebrations and he hadn't had to go to work for the last three days.

He was currently battling his way through the crisp winter air to wish Mari a Happy New Year, and maybe get a frothy hot chocolate to warm himself up in the process. With a small smile, he neatly sidestepped out of the way as a few children ran past him down the pavement, giggling and squealing, clutching pockets that were once bulging with New Year's pocket money and were now overflowing with sweets and little plastic toys.

The second reason he was in such a good mood was because he had tactfully timed his departure to be just before their dear Grandmother arrived for a visit.

He sniggered.

It wasn't as if he didn't _love_ his Grandmother or anything; it was sort of in the contract to love family members whether they tortured you or not, wasn't it? But if it came to sitting with her and his married twin and get interrogated about his currently non-existent love life, or leaving Hikaru to handle her by himself and having a drink with his friend, he'd pick the latter every time.

What else would a self-respecting Hitachiin do?

Kaoru smirked to himself as he thought back to when Haruhi had first met their grandmother. It had been at the twins' eighteenth birthday; almost six months after the couple had first started going out. After Haruhi had bowed politely in greeting, the older woman had silently given her and her outfit the Hitachiin once-over, which Haruhi was extremely used to and which barely made her self-conscious about her casual dress-sense anymore. Although she didn't have to worry about that on that particular meeting as Hikaru had already taken the liberty of happily dressing her up.

Grandmother Hitachiin had then made the most wonderful first impression by commenting bluntly, "And here I thought neither of them would ever get a girlfriend. Are you fertile?"

Haruhi had blushed furiously and Hikaru, who had unfortunately been taking a sip of lemonade at that moment, had started choking so dramatically that Kaoru had to thump him on the back. After he'd recovered, he shot her a wild look and tried to splutter, 'It's a bit soon for that'.

What came out instead was, "_What the bloody hell?_"

Haruhi'd sighed to herself, more than slightly embarrassed, as their Grandmother began to insist that she was just checking, as Hitachiins always seemed to have children early; she was a very young grandmother, or so she said. Kaoru was just beginning to evilly tease his mortified twin about the fact they could barely kiss without blushing, never mind _that_, when the older woman had rounded on him with a scary glint in her eye and started grilling him about why _he_ didn't have a girlfriend, or at least a boyfriend, if he was that way inclined.

Hikaru'd had no sympathy for his slightly horrified brother, and had made a point of laughing at him.

Kaoru snorted quietly to himself as he thought back to it, both a hilarious and a mortifying memory, and was just wondering evilly how his brother was getting along with their _dear _Grandmother when he finally spotted his destination.

Though he was happy to see the cosy bakery, he cast a worried look over the lack of tables outside and the drawn-in balcony. It was a weird feeling when he saw none other than Mari - conveniently - walk out at that moment, fiddling with a bunch of keys, a bag swung over her shoulder.

_Are they closing? Ah, man. Don't I feel dumb._

He was frowning in disappointment and considering what to do next when the shorter girl finally noticed him hovering there. She blinked in surprise as he slowly walked up to her, arranging a weak smile on his face.

"Hey, Mari. Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year," she automatically replied in a mystified tone. She glanced at the bakery and then back to him, before saying, "Did you want a cupcake? We close earlier on holidays."

"Yeah, I guessed." He scratched the back of his neck, feeling slightly awkward as he averted his eyes to the slightly depressing 'closed' sign on the door. Typical. "I suppose I should have thought of that before. I think I just wanted to escape the house for a bit."

He laughed, but she only replied by cocking her head and staring at him. Feeling a suspicious heat crawling into his cheeks, he scrambled around for something to say and eventually muttered, "Are you... are you usually the one who has to lock up?"

"Oh… No, that's usually Mrs. Hoshi," she said distractedly, referring to the actual owner of the café. She looked down at the bunch of sturdy keys as though she had forgotten she was holding them, and finally stuffed the oldest-looking one into the lock. "She lets me lock up if she thinks I'm taking too long. I think she was in a rush today. If you really want a cupcake," she added as the lock slid into place with an audible click, "I could try to make you one. But I usually burn them. I normally just put the icing on."

'_She really thinks I'm just addicted to the cakes…_' Kaoru thought dryly to himself as he shook his head dismissively, amused.

"Nah, I just wanted a coffee and to - you know - say Happy New Year and stuff." He sighed and hooked his thumbs into the shallow pockets of his jacket. "I'll guess I'll just go home now… Nice seeing you, anyway."

_Mission escape Grandmother for fear of losing sanity; failed. Darn._

"You can have a coffee at mine if you like," Mari spoke up as she dropped the jangling keys into her satchel bag. Kaoru blinked at her in surprise, but she didn't seem too bothered about the offer and merely added, "I'm sure I have coffee. Instant, I think. It's very bitter, but it's quite nice really."

Kaoru raised his eyebrows, slightly taken aback. "Really?"

"Yes. I put lots of sugar in mine but-"

"No, not that. You don't mind me coming over to your place?"

Mari paused and looked over at him, looking more lost than usual. "Why would I mind about that?"

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, a small smirk on his face.

_Why indeed?_

He was about to respond but she was already walking off, hands behind her back as she stared skywards dreamily, looking so unaware of what was around her - such as whether he was actually following her or not - that he couldn't help worrying how she ever managed to get home alone without being attacked or something like that. According to Haruhi, her dad had got mugged a few years back, but he was more than capable of taking care of himself. Mari? Not so much.

Hurriedly catching up, he fell into step with her and warned her of his presence by prompting, "Thank you. I'm glad I don't have to go straight home; horrors await me there."

She laughed quietly and unashamedly let her gaze flick over to him. "Horrors?" she parroted curiously. "Like the bogeyman?"

"Worse. My Grandmother."

Mari giggled slightly again. "Ah… I love Grandmothers," she announced, a strange smile on her face. Kaoru snorted and was about to comment teasingly when she randomly pointed upwards, seemingly to whatever she was looking at before.

He blinked and followed the direction of her finger with his golden eyes. The sky was a beautiful rich blue, fringed by violet and navy, stuck in the limbo between day and night. Wispy clouds circled a pool of clear sky, a bowl which cupped the faint silver outline of the moon that could already be seen. It was the moon that she was pointing to, but after appreciating it for a moment, Kaoru wordlessly let his eyes retrace back to the girl next to him. She stayed oblivious to his soft gaze and when she spoke, her attention stayed locked on the skies above.

"It's still daytime now, isn't it?"

"Sure."

"My Grandmother used to think it lucky if she saw the moon at daytime. She used to send wishes to stars too. She'd write them on paper cranes and the wind would take them away. She was always folding paper cranes. They were very beautiful."

Kaoru smiled as he listened silently. This was the fondest she ever had ever spoken of her family to him and certainly the most she had ever elaborated on any of them; he remembered the monotonous way she had listed off her family members before. He could practically hear the words between the lines she spoke - '_We were close.'_

Although it was hard not to notice the past tense.

He was about to comment that the two sounded a lot alike - dreamy in a way that was slightly odd - when she added, matter-of-fact, "Everyone else thought she was mad."

The words died on Kaoru's lips with a sniggering cough.

She glanced at him curiously but he just shook his head with a good-natured smirk and said instead, "She sounds nice. I'd have liked to have met her."

"Mm."

They carried on walking for a little while in comfortable silence, only broken by Mari occasionally humming to herself and finally a faint buzz from Kaoru's back pocket. He blinked and then hurriedly drug out his sleek mobile phone, getting a creeping suspicion who it was and exactly what they were complaining about.

And, of course, he was right.

**To:** Kaoru  
**From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** Grandmother keeps asking Haruhi GIRL stuff, and laughing at me when I try to intervene. I hate you for skipping out. SO MUCH.

Kaoru sniggered to himself and, after motioning to the phone when Mari gave him a blank look (she'd been too busy staring at the sky to notice that he'd received a message), was about to text back when it buzzed again. He quirked an eyebrow as a text from Hikaru came through, quickly followed by another.

**To:** Kaoru**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** I MAY have mentioned that you suck for leaving. Now she wants to know where you are.

**To:** Kaoru**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** I told her you went to play with icing.

He sighed but Hikaru was apparently having fun texting and didn't stop there.

**To:** Kaoru  
**From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** She thinks that's funny, for some reason. She says, are you meeting a girl there?

**To:** Kaoru  
**From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** I told her no.

**To:** Kaoru  
**From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** She now thinks you're gay.

**To:** Kaoru  
**From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** Are you gay, Kao-Kao?

**To:** Kaoru**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** She says, if you are, it's probably because of living with your amazingly hot and irresistible twin.

**To:** Kaoru**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** You can't help it.

Kaoru snorted out loud; Mari didn't bother looking round this time and just smiled vaguely. He was tempted to answer by saying 'Actually, I'm on my way to a _girl's_ apartment', but resisted the urge because of the scary thought of his Grandmother reading that. 'Interrogated to within an inch of his life' was a light phrase compared to what she'd do to him. For some reason, her favourite hobby seemed to be intervening with their love lives (Kaoru was oblivious to the fact that, when it came to his twin, he had very much inherited this trait).

His fingers blurred over the keypad as he messaged Hikaru back with practised swiftness.

**To:** Hikaru  
**From:** Kaoru**  
Message:** Liar. However, I'm going to take your ego-stroke as a compliment. I AM pretty hot, aren't I?

**To:** Kaoru**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** Well, duh. We share the 'hot' gene. :D And she didn't say that bit, but she IS wondering whether you're gay.

**To:** Hikaru  
**From:** Kaoru**  
Message:** Wonderful. I'd tell you to tell her otherwise, but you probably wouldn't.

**To:** Kaoru**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** Why would I, when it's so much more fun not to? ;) That's what you get for skipping out. I'm just telling her about the time you tried to molest me.

**To:** Hikaru**  
From:** Kaoru  
**Message:** Liar! I never tried to molest you. Don't tell her that!

**To:** Kaoru**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** She says she's always suspected it. She's VERY disappointed in you and your gay incestuous ways.

**To:** Hikaru  
**From:** Kaoru**  
Message:** Prat. Like you can talk. -.- And have you forgotten about Raku?

**To:** Kaoru**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** She doesn't exist anymore. :/ Grandmother wants solid evidence that you're straight! Give her a girlfriend Kaoru! In fact, give her two!

**To:** Hikaru**  
From:** Kaoru  
**Message:** Is discussing my sexuality fun?

**To:** Kaoru  
**From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** Extremely. :D

**To:** Hikaru  
**From:** Kaoru  
**Message:** Where is Haruhi during all of this?

**To:** Kaoru  
**From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** Shaking her head at me and tutting. Dunno why. :/

"We're here…" Mari suddenly interrupted, pointing almost hesitantly at a tall, old building, made of reddish stone and black slate. "Apartment four," she elaborated as she made her way up to the door and neatly walked through it, leaving Kaoru to quickly trot after her.

He messaged his brother one last time and, as well as mentioning that Haruhi was ashamed of him for '_picking on your poor innocent little brother_', told him that he'd be back soon, he was just having a drink. Which was true.

The inside hall of her building was pretty bog-standard, from a commoner's point of view; a worn, rust coloured carpet, a feeble attempt at greenery in one corner, and a wall of grey metallic mail boxes. Mari led him to a staircase with a black iron hand rail and paused at the bottom of it. She made a vague gesture upwards and commented apologetically, as though it wasn't obvious, "We have to go up."

Kaoru smiled at her distractedly, glancing at the commoner's collective mailboxes with interest, before saying smoothly, "That's fine. What floor is it?"

"The fifth floor - that's the top floor."

"Ah… there's no elevator?"

"No." She shrugged in a suddenly unapologetic sort of way, before stuffing her hands in her pockets and beginning to trot up the stairs, throwing over her shoulder as a last comment, "Perhaps it's karma for eating so many cupcakes?"

He pouted for a second, and then began following her upwards. He had just caught up to her when his phone buzzed annoyingly again. Kaoru frowned but for some reason Mari found it funny and giggled. Giving her a bemused look, he smirked slightly and then flipped his phone open once again and read.

**To:** Kaoru**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** A drink? You're leaving with me with her so you can have a drink? You're such a bad brother. And you better be talking about coffee.

Kaoru rolled his eyes and ignored it.

* * *

Mari's apartment was exactly as Kaoru had pictured it.

Even though he'd only known her for a few months, she was so obvious with her emotions that he could easily imagine how it'd reflect in her apartment, and as he walked into it, he looked about with a knowing smile. There was no TV or anything that could be counted as excessive, but there was a music player and a warm-looking commoner kotatsu, which made him grin. A casual woven mat and a litter of books with fantasy titles covered the floor, while a wall phone and an oddly abstract canvas stood out on the shockingly red walls.

Mari hovered in the middle of it for a second, looking more aware of Kaoru standing there than the obvious mess, before apparently suddenly remembering what she was going to do and chirping, "Ah - you want a coffee. Shall I get us coffee?"

"Yes, please," Kaoru smiled, dragging his eyes away from curiously reading the titles of the books. "Anything I can help with?"

"Probably not," she admitted truthfully, cocking her head as she began to walk through an open doorway and into a small kitchen. "You could hold the mugs. Or cheer me on. Though that probably won't improve the taste of the coffee."

Kaoru snorted and, as she seemed content to let him do whatever, was about to follow her when something caught his eye. He blinked and glanced over at a plain door, which stood slightly ajar so he could see a sliver of what was inside. It seemed to be… _winking _at him. As in literally. Something in there was catching the light slightly and twinkling.

He paused, and then curiosity finally took over him and he suddenly found his feet moving towards the open door, almost of their own accord. In typical Hitachiin fashion, he merely warned her of his snooping with a backwards shout of 'What's in this room?', before he nudged the door and glanced inside to its hidden interior. When he saw, his eyes widened and he opened it fully without a thought.

Chains of beads hung over the window so natural afternoon light shone in and cast tinted, shifting patterns over the wooden floor. The room was small and square and dominated by a sturdy desk, which was covered in tools, little gem-like beads and bright wires of copper and aluminium. The wire had been crafted into little stick people who rode bikes or read books, and tiny geckos that ran along the side with long tails and blue beady eyes.

He let his eyes wander to the biggest piece there, the golden sparkle of which had caught his attention in the first place.

It was a proudly sitting cat, about as big as two packets of sugar on top of each other, intricately woven with polished copper wire and thinner silver wire for the tufts of fur. In two almond shaped openings, he could see golden marbles for eyes, which caught the sun that filtered through the structure and looked down upon a small silver mouse that was resting almost tentatively on its paw. The mouse had two tiny pieces of polished flint for eyes and a silver ball bearing at the end of its nose, which Kaoru poked on a whim, smirking slightly to himself.

He heard a sound behind him and, without turning round, commented, "This is beautiful. You did this?"

"Do you usually walk into rooms uninvited?" Mari ventured lightly, though she sounded more bemused than offended. "Who knows what I could be keeping in here?"

Kaoru glanced over his shoulder to give her an apologetic grin. "Sorry - it winked at me. I got curious."

She nodded understandingly, passing over one of the two steaming mugs in her hands. "It can be very hard to ignore a door when it winks at you," she agreed seriously. "Maybe it wanted you to come in." As the redhead sniggered, she cocked her head and regarded the little sculptures for a moment before admitting, "I love making things - trying to make them look alive. Though I'm not very good at getting the proportions right."

Kaoru gave them a critical look before he responded, his artist side coming out slightly. She did seem to have a tendency to enlarge the features, like the heads and the hands, so they looked slightly cartoon like. The mouse's ears were much too large, like little satellite dishes on top of its head. Kaoru smiled at it. He decided it looked cute.

"I like them," he informed her honestly, flashing her a quirky grin. "The cat and the mouse are my favourite."

"Ah… Your hair inspired that one."

He blinked. "My hair? Really?"

"Yes," she said, giving the auburn locks in question a hard look (Kaoru had an urge to go cock-eyed so he could look at it himself). "It's a very nice colour," she commented finally, taking a casual sip of coffee.

Kaoru looked at her for a second, bemused, before smirking slightly and taking a dismissive drink from his own steaming mug. His eyes wandered from the copper-coloured cat and the small mouse to the desk covered in all the materials and tools. A sudden thought occurred to him and he frowned to himself.

This couldn't be a cheap hobby for a commoner and though he didn't really know much about how much a waitress would be paid, he couldn't imagine it being that much. And yet she had a whole room devoted to it. Confused, he wondered vaguely how much the apartment cost. Maybe she just put all her spare money into it or something? Would that be enough? He honestly didn't know, but it didn't seem quite right.

He sneaked a glance at her, musing on whether it would be rude to ask. Haruhi always used to get so annoyed at them for even mentioning her money so maybe it was some sort of weird commoner taboo. Anyway, she might just get money from her parents or something. He paused before finally shrugging it off, deciding that, though taboos in general were fun to break, the atmosphere between then was too relaxed and peaceful to ruin.

After a second, Mari randomly sat down Indian-style on the wooden floor and Kaoru instantly joined her, just because it seemed like the natural thing to do. The easy conversation consisted mostly of Mari curiously questioning everything and making the odd random observation, while Kaoru happily talked about whatever came to mind and occasionally teased her about the fact that maybe she made the heads so big to make them look 'cute and baby-like'.

Eventually, talk turned to family again and Kaoru eagerly said to her, this being one of his favourite subjects, "Hika felt the babies kick the other day and Haruhi says they're really active suddenly, which is good. I don't think it's fair though," he added with a pout. "_I _haven't felt them move yet. They're always asleep when I want to feel. _Apparently_."

"You must have very bad timing," Mari commented sympathetically, causing him to pout in self-pity.

He was about to tell her about his theory that 'it must be a conspiracy', when he suddenly noticed that, though the small box window, the sky had darkened to a deep nighttime grey. Although nighttimes were known for coming soon and sudden at this time of the year, he instantly got the distinct impression of having stayed much longer than he had intended.

Pouting slightly, as he was in no mood to leave, he said reluctantly, "It's getting dark. I should probably get back. Do you want me to put these mugs away?"

Mari blinked and glanced over to the window before slowly responding, "Oh… No, it's okay. Just leave them there."

Kaoru nodded and, as they stood up and she walked him to the door, glanced at her profile. He took in her almond-shaped eyes, grey and dreamy, and her unkempt dark-ash hair: her petite figure, covered in comfortable, random-coloured clothes, and her slightly squashed-looking nose, which he decided made her face look quirky rather than anything else that he didn't care to think of.

This spacey, un-judgemental person was so comfortable to be with. He never had to be anyone but himself or try too hard to please - and in a world of strict business deals and acting that bordered on barefaced lies, where people had more than two faces, someone like that meant a surprising amount. It always caught him off-guard when he found someone who could make him so quietly and perfectly happy. But look; he'd found someone, all by himself.

Of course, he wasn't in love with her. After everything that happened with his old girlfriend, Raku, Kaoru was sure to be very careful whom he used that important word on. He was certain that this warm fondness he felt hadn't yet developed into anything like _love_, but still…

Kaoru glanced at her again, watching the low light reflect in her eyes.

…He liked her.

As they reached the door and he slipped his leather shoes back on, a fierce battle began raging inside Kaoru's head. He hesitated, taking an abnormally long time to put on his right shoe, and frowned as he struggled internally, trying to decide, or maybe just trying to gather up the courage. Finally, he looked up and cut off Mari's mutter of 'See you…' by announcing quickly, "Hey, Mari?"

"Yes?"

"I was thinking… Would you like to go out somewhere with me next week? Instead of just meeting at the bakery?"

She blinked at him, looking openly surprised. Finally, to his acute embarrassment, she asked in a mystified tone, "Why would you want to do that?"

_Oh Jeeze. _

"Because," he muttered sheepishly, flashing her a quirky smile. "It'd be fun. What, don't you like spending time with me?"

"Oh no," she corrected airily, shaking her head slightly at his mock-pout. "It's not that. I like that very much."

Kaoru smirked, pleased with that answer. He lent forward and grinned at her impishly, before prompting, as he hadn't exactly received an answer yet, "And I like being with you. You're really genuine - unlike other people I could mention." He thought dryly of Leiko before concentrating his attention back on the girl in front of him, scratching the back of his neck. "So, do you want to go on a date with me? …I mean, just like… between friends…"

_Good grief, I sound like Hikaru. He'd never let me hear the end of it._

Mari had been wordlessly staring at him until that point, looking genuinely bewildered, but when he began to work himself into a bit of a fluster she rescued him by saying in what could almost be counted as an exited tone, "Okay! I mean, yes, that sounds good. I've never been on a date-just-like-between-friends before. Should I wear something special?"

He sniggered in bemusement, instantly feeling decisively giddy as a beam broke over his face. "You really _are_ a space case, aren't you?" he teased, happily ruffling her hair, to which she just blinked. He opened the front door for himself and added eagerly, "It's a date. Let's arrange it sometime this week then, yeah? You can chose where we go if you like."

"Where we go…" Mari parroted, suddenly looking deep in thought; she was apparently telling the truth when she said she'd never been on a between-friends date before and so seemed to be taking it very seriously.

Kaoru snorted.

As he walked out, he got a sudden urge and, without thought (or with very little thought anyway; the youngest twin couldn't handle not thinking _at all_), he ducked his head as though it was being pulled by a string. He lent down and, before he carried on walking, innocently pressed his lips to her cheek.

"See you, Mari."

"Goodbye… Kaoru…"

Feeling suspiciously happy and pleased with himself, Kaoru trotted through the beige hallway and to the stairs until he remembered something that - amazingly - he had forgotten to ask her about yet. He quickly back-tracked and looked behind him, just to find that she was still standing in the exact same position, a hand tentatively touching her cheek and a strange expression on her face. When she noticed that he'd stopped, she dropped her hand and blinked at him curiously.

Seemingly unable to wipe the silly smile off his face, Kaoru quickly said, "Ah, I forgot to ask you something. I hate to bring up work but - your bakery - does it allow orders for custom-made cakes and things?"

Mari cocked her head as she thought about it. "I… suppose so. It wouldn't be very good if it didn't."

"Awesome. See, it's Haruhi's birthday soon…"

* * *

**8]**

**This chapter was kind of really hard to write…;; I really hope you liked it, and comments of how I did with Mari and such would be very much appreciated. Constructive criticism to an author is like chocolate to a chocoholic… Mmm, chocolate…**

**Anyway. =w= We're sort of in a fluffy, floaty part of the storyline at the moment, just developing and establishing relationships, but hopefully drama (?;;) will appear soon… **

**Please review!**

**xxx**

**P.S. Any ideas for the location of Kaoru and Mari's sort of date? I'm not quite sure yet…**


	24. Birthday Surprises

**Birthday Surprises

* * *

**

"…Haru…"

"Just a moment, Kaoru."

"…"

"…"

"…Ah! I felt them, I felt them!"

Haruhi snorted in bemusement as Kaoru, whose hand she was holding to a certain point on her stomach, practically squeaked in delight. He grinned at her and, when he felt another bump against his hand, cried happily, "They kicked me again!"

"When they're born, I don't think you're going to sound so happy when you say that…" Haruhi pointed out dryly, but neither Kaoru nor Hikaru, who was sitting cross-legged next to them and fussing about having a turn, seemed to hear her.

The three of them were sitting together on Hikaru and Haruhi's low king-sized bed, an immense mass of fluffy duvet, swapping easy and happy conversation while fussing over Haruhi's growing stomach. The television that Hikaru had installed a few weeks ago in their room, which had never actually left, everyone being too lazy to move it, blasted a movie which turned into fuzzy background noise - it mostly remained ignored. They had spent the whole morning eating a brunch buffet in an exasperated Haruhi's honour, so the light that filtered in through the windows was tinted with an afternoon hue.

The reason everything was in Haruhi's honour was, of course, because today was the brunette's twenty-third birthday. Her favourite twins had taken the day off in order to celebrate it, simply by hanging around with her. Haruhi had been both relieved and pleased by this and had been touched by the simple cards the rest of her friends and her father had sent; at last, it seemed, everyone was taking notice of her hate for dramatics on her birthday and were just letting her relax her way through it.

That's what she naively thought anyway. In truth, everyone else was planning to surprise her the next day - which was a Sunday, a universal day off - with a big pile of presents and an even bigger spread of food. But Haruhi didn't need to know that.

As the one hidden twin enthusiastically gave a few more eager - and very slightly painful - kicks, as though exited by the yelps they could decipher from 'outside', Haruhi felt a light, shifting movement against another point in her belly.

It was immensely hard to explain, even to herself, but she felt that she was slowly beginning to distinguish between them from their movements; so much so that, though she would be the first to admit that it might just be a _want_ to tell them apart more than any actual skill, she had started to think of them individually.

"Ne, Kaoru," Hikaru whined after a minute, elbowing his brother in a half-hearted attempt to steal back the prime position by Haruhi's belly. "Quit hogging Haruhi. I want to feel my baby kick."

Kaoru cocked his head as he contemplated something for a few long moments before a smirk spread across his face. "Too bad, bro," he teased, removing his hand. "They've stopped. They're probably like, resting now or something?"

When Haruhi didn't deny this, Hikaru scowled and showed off his maturity by sulkily prodding his twin hard in the side. "You suck!" he announced irritably. "You stole my turn!"

"No I didn't! Uncles get _unlimited _turns."

"Dads get _more _unlimited turns!"

"That doesn't make sense!"

"Yes it does!"

"Can you stop talking about my stomach like it's a theme park ride?" Haruhi quipped dryly, promptly slapping away both of their hands as she leaned back into the pillows.

"Honestly…" she muttered as she pulled her knees up to get more comfortable and picked up the orange juice that she had suddenly craved half an hour ago from the side. The remainder of the fresh, bright liquid was in a tall slim glass, light catching onto the tiny beads of condensation that ran down the sides and onto her fingers.

After the twins wordlessly and mutually decided that they had glared at each other for long enough and they could now call it a draw, they automatically shifted closer to her. Hikaru slipped an arm comfortably around her, glancing at her face with a fond expression, while Kaoru lent his head on her shoulder, looking back to the television and wondering what on earth they were watching. Haruhi fidgeted for a moment before relaxing back and allowing herself to be sandwiched between them.

She was surprised to find a genuinely warm smile grow across her face as they simultaneously shifted even closer.

Haruhi had always been sceptical to the twins' abstract claim that she had walked into their intimate 'world' of two, and the three of them were bonded so closely because of it. But at times like this she was inclined to believe it. She felt so happy and so safe, sitting between them, enclosed in their casual limbs, like they used to do all the time in high school. Opportunity hadn't shown itself lately, but right now it was nice to just stop and be with the people she felt closest to, though she'd never admit that aloud.

The twins' dark little world, if it had really existed so prominently to them, had now turned into something nothing short of beautiful; a safe haven to return to, instead of a permanent residence.

For a while, they just stayed like that contently, relaxing against each other and Hikaru only breaking the silence a few times to make fun of what was on television, much to his twin's amusement. It wasn't until fast-paced and colourful adverts began to flash over the screen, causing all their minds to wander, that Kaoru jumped up and announced in a shocked voice, "I forgot to give you your present!"

Haruhi smiled wearily at him and was about to assure him that it didn't matter if he'd forgotten it when he randomly dived to the side of the bed. She blinked as he flopped over it so he was half-upside-down and, while Hikaru helpfully laughed at him, began to hunt for something under the bed. After a few moments, he reappeared and promptly sat up, his hair falling around his face messily as he grinned and proudly presented a container made of clear plastic.

Haruhi's first reaction was to wonder how it had gotten under her bed.

Her second reaction was to actually look at what it was.

"Happy Birthday, little sister," Kaoru chirped happily as Haruhi looked in bemusement at the fluffy cake he was holding, drizzled lightly in pristine icing that had dried dripping down the side in a few places, which made it look wonderfully home-baked.

Though she hadn't really put much thought into what he'd get for her and he had for some reason developed a weakness for cakes himself lately, she was slightly surprised that he'd got her one. After all, it wasn't any secret that she wasn't too fond of overly sweet things.

Kaoru could apparently read her mind because he chose then to add, "And it's not too sweet, before you say anything like that. I made sure to ask. And I know you're going to like it, because it's a banana cake!" Haruhi snorted at that, and Kaoru smiled before adding thoughtfully, "I asked them to put some cinnamon in too… because I like cinnamon. I'm sure it'll taste nice."

She rolled her eyes and then smiled fondly at him and the thought he'd put into just finding a cake that she'd like. "Thank you Kaoru. I'm sure it's delicious."

The younger twin grinned, but before he could say anything Hikaru cut across him with a teasing snigger as he lent over to Haruhi's ear. "Ne, Haru," he said in a mocking stage whisper. "I wouldn't be so sure if I were you. It's come from Kaoru's 'bakery'. Who knows what foul deeds go on there."

Kaoru sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you that it _is_ a bakery?" he remarked, trying to scowl but failing miserably; he couldn't help but smile at the thought of the café, no matter what perverted context his brother decided to put it in.

The brother in question decided to drag out the topic by drawling mockingly, "_Sure_ it is."

"It is! What other evidence do you want other than a cake?"

Hikaru grinned at him. "Two cakes!"

Haruhi rolled her eyes as Hikaru cackled and Kaoru snorted, before firmly prodding his twin in the head. She quickly diverted the violent prodding war that was sure to follow this by hurriedly repeating, "Thank you, Kaoru."

The younger twin beamed happily at her. As he dived back under the bed to retrieve, to Haruhi's bemusement, a knife and some plates, Hikaru suddenly remembered something that they had discussed at work yesterday, but he had yet to tell his wife.

He glanced uncertainly at Haruhi, and then quickly at his brother, before finally tugging on Haruhi's sleeve. When she looked over at him he muttered slowly, "Uh, I just remembered darlin', I've got something to tell you."

As Haruhi blinked owlishly, Kaoru quickly shot his brother a hard look that, to his twin, translated clearly as, '_You haven't told her yet? Don't tell her when I'm here!_'

Hikaru scowled back at him, a look that seemed both stubborn and desperate.

'_You're acting as a buffer whether you like it or not. Twin's duty._'

Kaoru glared at him sulkily.

'_But it's awkward!_'

Hikaru glared harder.

'_Too bad._'

The younger twin replied with a pout.

'_Git._'

While this short and wordless exchange had been going on, Haruhi had apathetically shrugged it off and had gone back to watching the mind-numbing game show that was now running on the telly; she had learned not to even bother trying to decipher their conversation when they resorted to the logic of 'we're-twins-and-we-don't-need-words-or-logical-sentences-to-understand-each-other'. Because really, what was the point?

She suddenly noticed that they had finished whatever they were just doing, and she raised her eyebrows at Hikaru as he frowned and mumbled almost awkwardly, "Y'see Haru… You know our show's coming up pretty soon now - in late March?"

"Obviously," she drawled.

"Yeah, well, we have to start promoting it and stuff now, so on the… uh, Kaoru, when are-"

"The fifteenth."

"Yeah, on the fifteenth Kaoru and I have to go to on a visit to Europe for a week."

Haruhi blinked at him silently as she processed this, her look of surprise making him feel somehow guilty. After a long pause she parroted slowly, just for clarification, "So… you'll both be gone for a week?"

He squirmed. "Yeah. But it's only a week!"

Haruhi paused for a second and then, in complete contradiction to the upset response Hikaru had been dreading, shrugged nonchalantly and went back to the television. "Okay," she said simply, sounding completely unaffected.

Hikaru stared at her.

"…What?" he spluttered after a second, unbelievably looking slightly offended at her casual acceptance that he'd be leaving her for a week - for the first time since their engagement, no less. "Okay? That's all you say?"

She rolled her head to look at him, her eyes suddenly, for some reason, hard and guarded as she solidly stared him down. "What?" she drawled with out-of-the-blue irritation. "What do you want me to say? As you pointed out, it's only a week. I'll survive."

And with that, Haruhi went back the telly, while Hikaru puffed up in utterly immature and groundless annoyance. There was a few seconds of harsh silence.

All of a sudden, Kaoru decided it was his time to clear the air and randomly grinned brightly at the two of them.

"So!" he announced chirpily, clapping his hands. "Who wants some cake?"

* * *

"Thanks dad… Nothing much really, it's been a nice and relaxing birthday. Hm? Yes, yes, they're treating me fine. How has your day been? … No, I'm not changing the subject…"

Haruhi rolled her eyes in fond exasperation as she listened to her father. She was sitting on the edge of her soft bed, holding her phone to her ear and distractedly fiddling with her empty drinking glass as she stared at the dimming sky outside, the day coming to a blissful, quiet end. She suddenly heard a shuffle behind her and glanced over her shoulder to find Hikaru slipping back into the room, after taking an abnormally long time to walk Kaoru to the door; _why_ Kaoru needed to be walked to the door when he knew this house inside out, Haruhi didn't know.

Kaoru had successfully diverted them away from the possible childish confrontation that Hikaru had almost pushed them into - he was good at that - and now, it being forgotten, or forgiven at least, they swapped a small smile before Haruhi went back to talking to her dad. She noted Hikaru lean against the dresser and cock his head as he watched her silently, a slight smirk on his face. Slightly suspicious of whatever was running through his head, Haruhi turned away dismissively.

"Sorry, what was that? …Oh, okay. Don't worry about it; say hello to him for me. Hm? Really?" She chuckled quietly and Hikaru quirked an eyebrow. "Wow, that's great…Yeah. See you soon. …Love you too, dad. Bye."

She smiled before finally terminating the call and placing her phone neatly on the side. Then she turned to Hikaru and dryly mimicked his quirked eyebrow. "What are you staring at?" she drawled.

The devilish redhead snorted. "You're so nice and polite to your husband," he teased, grinning as he pushed away from the desk and strolled up to her on the bed. He ducked his head so they were nose to nose before purring suggestively, "I haven't given you _my_ birthday present yet, have I sweetheart?"

"…Suppose not…" Haruhi muttered hesitantly, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

Hikaru just sniggered and then took her hand softly in his and, with his other arm at her waist, pulled her up next to him. This was so sudden that Haruhi stumbled slightly and had to grab onto his arm for balance as she steadied herself, before looking up to him demandingly. Hikaru winked and simply tugged her hand again, motioning upwards with a nod of his head.

"Come on, darling," he coaxed with a grin. "Your present's upstairs. You have to come and get it."

"It's upstairs?"

"Yep."

"…Hikaru, we're on the _top floor_."

He only responded to this with a cheery smirk and yet another wink, before insistently tugging on her hand again, just like a little child who was desperate to show off and be praised. Haruhi hesitated for another second and then finally relented with a sigh, placing one hand supportively on her stomach and allowing him to eagerly lead her out of the room.

Once they got into the corridor, Hikaru smoothly turned right and continued. It was hard not to succumb to excitement and drag her along at top speed - he always got overly-eager when he'd thought of the surprise all by himself - but he managed to slow his walk a bit for his pregnant wife.

"I wanted to blindfold you or something so you can't see where we're going," Hikaru admitted a minute or so later as they reached a corridor in the east wing, which Haruhi vaguely remembered wandering into once before, possibly when she was lost. "But I thought I better not, considering…" he added, smirking at her dry look before happily pointing to an oak door that she had never been in before. "You go first."

Haruhi didn't bother hesitating and wearily walked right up to it, beginning to get the attitude of 'let's just get this over with'. Hikaru hovered restlessly behind her as she twisted the handle and swung the door open, confusion washing over her once she saw the interior.

It seemed to be a sort of hallway, dominated by a quaint, old-fashioned staircase that led up to a sturdy looking door with a bright chrome doorknob. She gave Hikaru a confused glance but he just motioned to go on impatiently, which Haruhi did, albeit with a weary sigh. There were too many stairs in this house. She'd like to strap two babies to Hikaru's middle, send him up a million stairs, and then see how _he_ liked it.

Holding onto the handrail firmly, she steadily eased her way up and eyed the door as she came to it; there were a lot of faint smudges and marks on the polished wood, as if it had once been covered in little signs secured with blue tack, but they had recently been pulled off. She placed a hand on the doorknob but finally hesitated and glanced over to her husband again.

"This doesn't lead to the _roof _or anything stupid like that, does it?" she asked warily, honestly not putting it past him.

"No," Hikaru confirmed, rolling his eyes. "It's not the roof. I'm not _that _stupid. It's just a - quit looking at me like that - it's just a loft conversion. Just a plain old room."

Smothering a small, amused smile at his disgruntled pout, she went back to the door and twisted the handle, finally letting it swing open. As she looked inside, her first thoughts were, _'It looks like a five-year-old's decorated it'_.

It was, as Hikaru had promised, a small loft conversion made of light wood that was chipped and splattered with paint here and there, lit only by two lamps, one orange, one blue. A deep-set arched window was also on one wall, but it was covered by a pair of flimsy starry curtains.

Bundles of cloth in silver-y blue, sporting a few holes and loose threads, swamped the walls and hung from the ceiling, along with chains of beads, faded cut-outs of stars, and strange arrangements of thin pipes and wire. The only furniture was a low, small bed with a fluffy duvet and wooden headboard, and a half-empty book case, adorned with a few worn books, stacks of paper, and tens of tubs of everything from paintbrushes to glitter.

A few comfortable-looking bean bags were thrown in corners but other than that the wooden panelled floor was clear, though Haruhi guessed that it had once been littered with the contents of four bulging boxes stacked beside her, all carrying a label of 'toys'. Behind it she could see a stuffed away cork board, the part she could see covered in letters, drawings and paintings, little explosions of colour.

She could see one painting of what looked like a child's impression of Grandmother Hitachiin eating cake, which worryingly seemed to have been used as a dart board.

As Haruhi looked about the room in bemusement, Hikaru leaned down so his head was next to her, feeling slightly awkward as he measured her reaction.

"This, um, isn't really your present; it's more for the babies," he muttered sheepishly, rubbing a dried splash of purple paint on the floor with his toe. "It used to, uh, be mine and Kaoru's… secret base. It was really messy and dusty and stuff, but I managed to clean it and make it look good again…"

He caught Haruhi's sceptical glance and pouted before admitting reluctantly, "Fine, Kaoru helped too. And a maid. But it was my idea. I thought the babies could play here - you know - when we trust them to tackle stairs and stuff. That's not for a while, but I thought I'd show you…"

Haruhi didn't reply, too busy looking at it all with a soft smile on her face. Though they had been quiet up to now, she suddenly felt the babies begin to shift slightly with a few half-hearted kicks, as though they could tell that something was happening and they wanted to be a part of it. As she smiled and absent-mindedly rubbed a hand slowly over her stomach, Hikaru watched her face nervously, unsure of her reaction to it when she was being so quiet.

"Um… If they're boys," he began again, flapping a hand towards the mountain of boxes, "they can even have our old toys - we're thrown away all the broken ones."

_And yet you still have four boxes…?_

Haruhi laughed before commenting, almost teasingly, "They can probably have all of your old toys even if they're girls."

Hikaru pouted moodily, irked by the obvious jab at his and his twin's oh-so-manly hobbies, but quickly cheered up when Haruhi softly entwined their fingers. He decided not to drag out the subject and defend himself by mentioning their old home-made bazookas, so he just silently cocked his head when Haruhi turned slightly to look up at him, lips twitching fondly.

"This is lovely," she praised, watching bemusedly as a grin instantly lit up his face. "They could play here all the time; we'd have to watch them though. I don't like those stairs."

Haruhi gave the stairs in question a distrusting glare and Hikaru sniggered at the sudden show of maternal protectiveness. He was about to happily dip his lips to hers when a thought randomly occurred to him and his face fell dramatically. Ignoring Haruhi's questioning look, he wordlessly dodged around her and quickly hurried over to the window, throwing open the curtains dramatically as she slowly followed him.

Apparently the sight of the evening, a deep navy with only the ebbing fringe of day on its horizon, displeased him because he suddenly snapped, "_Shit_!"

The swear was so out of place in the child-like setting that Haruhi instantly scowled at him and had to resist an urge to hit him around the head. "What?" she drawled, showing little sympathy when he turned to her with a sulky expression.

Hikaru flapped a hand irritably in the direction of the window. "The sunset looks really nice from here; I wanted to show you, but we've freaking missed it." He stuck out his bottom lip and continued to grumble; she couldn't quite catch what he was saying, but she definitely caught repetitive use of the word 'stupid'.

Haruhi rolled her eyes wryly at his failed attempt at a cliché, romantic setting. She honestly didn't know why he bothered, as he'd never quite been able to reconstruct the idealist romance that came so easily to Tamaki.

He'd once tried to surprise her in high school by leaving a lavish box of chocolates for White Day outside her apartment door, so she'd find them when she left for school and be blown over by how totally sweet he could be; that was the plan anyway. Unbeknownst to Hikaru however, a neighbourhood dog had easily smelt them out and made quick work of them, so when an oblivious Haruhi had arrived empty-handed to school, he'd shamefully had nothing to give her that wasn't obvious he'd ordered at the last second.

Tamaki had refused to call him anything but 'bad boyfriend' for an entire fortnight, a nickname which Kaoru decided to occasionally adopt as well if he felt like being evil.

Hikaru sulked as he glared at the window. Well, there was half of her present gone. Why couldn't real sunsets be as conveniently timed as they were on movies? It just wasn't fair.

Haruhi suddenly turned round to face him from glancing out of the window, a look of exasperation on her face that he saw far too often. He was about to announce that he had the rest of her present here when she said quietly, "This room for the babies is more than enough of a present for me. Thank you."

"But-"

She interrupted him with a dry look. "I don't need a sunset."

Then she leaned up to kiss him. It was so rare that Haruhi initiated _anything_ that Hikaru made the easy decision to put off telling her about her other present and just kiss her back.

It didn't matter that they'd been married for over half a year, his heart still beat faster as he felt her lips press into his. He still felt a hot spark jump down his spine when her fingertips brushed the back of his neck. He still lent into the kiss with greedy adoration as he wrapped his arms around her.

After a while they broke apart, but Hikaru found, not really to his surprise, that he didn't want the moment to end. He happily planted light kisses along her jaw, moving onto her neck when he ran out of room. A few moments later Haruhi accused in a mumble, "Kissaholic."

He sniggered. "You started it."

"Give you an inch and you take a mile."

"Mm… not really a _mile_," he purred, cackling evilly when he drew back and saw her dead-pan expression.

Seeing that she was about to retort back, probably with some crushingly blunt comment that would destroy his ego forever, he quickly placed a finger annoyingly over her mouth and announced, finally, "I have another present for you too!"

Her face, already flat before, actually managed to become even more uninterested.

"I don't want anything else," she drawled, batting his hand away and getting horrible, nightmare-inducing mental images of diamonds and gold jewellery and things stupidly excessive like that - though that was admittedly more of a _Tamaki _thing to do.

Hikaru rolled his eyes. "Well, you've got something else," he said mockingly, trying to imitate her drawl. "Deal with it."

Ignoring her unimpressed frown, he took her hand once again and tugged her towards the bed, where he apparently wanted her to sit as he dropped her hand and hurried away to fetch something from behind the boxes. Haruhi sighed before carefully sitting down on the low bed, which was obviously designed for a child, and glancing over absent-mindedly to the wooden headboard. Her lips twitched when she saw that the name 'Hikaru' was carved onto the right of it in spidery characters, while 'Kaoru' was craved onto the left in decidedly neater writing.

Darts and carving knifes. Honestly, it was a wonder her husband still had all his fingers.

"Ta-dah!" Hikaru suddenly announced from the other side of the room, grabbing her attention back. When she saw what his arms were full of, she snorted in laughter, causing him to grin triumphantly before adding grandly, "Dinner for two!"

In his arms was an elaborately carved sushi boat, made of dark, polished wood with 'Happy Birthday' painted daintily on the side in what looked like Hikaru's best writing. The inside was lavishly lined with colourful variations of sushi, especially the recognisable reddish-pink of the infamous giant tuna, with only a clear island in the midst of it for two small pots of soy sauce. It was far too elaborate for her, but looking at the exited anticipation on Hikaru's face Haruhi found, probably for almost the first time in her life, that she honestly didn't have the heart to point that out.

So instead she just let a look of tender bemusement take over her face as her eyes travelled from Hikaru to the oriental palette of food and she admitted truthfully, "It looks delicious. Ridiculously expensive, but delicious. Thank you, I guess."

"That was awesome," Hikaru snorted, lips twitching into a happy smirk, "until you added the 'I guess'. You so need to work on your thanking skills. Better than nothing though."

Haruhi rolled her eyes wearily but still smiled to herself when Hikaru lent over to happily peck her cheek. Then he set the sushi boat down in the middle of the bed and flopped down onto the soft duvet himself, so he was sitting opposite Haruhi. He seemed rather pleased with himself as, smirking, he picked up a delicate pair of chopsticks with a flourish and expertly plucked up a plump California roll.

"Happy Birthday, Haru," he recited, before grinning wickedly and holding out the sushi before her face pointedly. "Open up."

Haruhi gave him a look drier than the Sahara. "What?"

"I'm feeding it to you! Like they do on telly!"

"What sort of things do you watch?"

"Ne, just open up and eat the sushi."

"No."

"Why not?"

"I'll get it myself. You're not _feeding_ me."

"Yes, I am," he informed her indulgently, his grin widening in way that instantly made Haruhi narrow her eyes in suspicion.

"… Why do you say that?" she asked hesitantly, dreading the answer.

He cackled evilly. "Because I only brought one pair of chopsticks! And if you try to use your fingers, or leave, I'll tickle you. _Without mercy_."

"…"

Somehow, as she glared daggers at her smug husband, it suddenly seemed to Haruhi that this was more of a present for _him_ than it was for her. Of course she couldn't eat her sushi _normally_.

"I hate you," she decided with a huff, which just made him snigger even more.

Instead of replying, he just waggled the sushi eagerly in front of her again and, albeit with an ever-suffering sigh, she finally ate it, much to his delight. Despite the circumstances, she had to admit that, as she took a second to savour it, the sushi was melt-in-the-mouth delicious; truly, the food was by far the best thing about being rich. Hikaru beamed at her indulgently, strangely enjoying himself, and Haruhi couldn't help but smile back, though suspicion quickly grew again when his devious expression returned.

"Ne, Haruhi," he cooed, winking at her and twirling the chopsticks delicately between his fingers. "Now you can feed _me_…"

She glared at him.

"I'm going to stab you with those chopsticks in a minute."

"Love you too, darling."

* * *

**8D**

**Ah, I love freshman trio love. I couldn't help but put a huge dollop of HikaHaruKao friendship in there at the start. I mean, it's Haruhi's birthday; what better excuse to have a big Hitachiin sandwich? :D**

**I hope you enjoyed Haru-chan's birthday (longest chapter yet)!;; Thanks so much to everyone who has read up to here. You're made of total awesomesauce. I am not worthy.**

**Next chapter has Kaoru and Mari's date! 8D?**

**Please review!**

**xxx**

**P.S. Fanart exists for this story! By the wonderfully talented Frizzlechick. Thank you so much! 8D Knowing that art was inspired by this made me so happy; it was the equivalent of actually managing to get cake through the computer screen. Yeah, I know, **_**that**_** happy. 8DDD And it's such a pretty picture! It's of Kaoru and Mari; everyone please check it out! Link's on my profile :D**


	25. Shooting stars

**So, Mister Writer's Block. We meet again.**

**Ahem. Sorry for the late update. Only half of it was Mr Block's fault though; all of my updates will have to be pretty slow until the end of January when my exams finish (where upon I'll lock myself in a room and write until my fingers bleed). In fact, if I update fast, it means I'm writing instead of revising and all reviews should begin with 'GET BACK TO WORK, YOU LAZY DERP.'**

**Yeah. So. I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's stolen the last chapter's title of being the longest chapter so far (6000+ words…);;

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**

**Shooting stars

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Despite all flamboyant displays of idiocy and monotonous barrages of logic, when Tamaki and Ayame were together they made a very majestic couple, especially when they made an effort like tonight; the personifications of gold and silver standing arm-in-arm in a hall that faded in comparison, even more so when Tamaki started to play up the romance. As he had a tendency to do.

"Observe," he simpered, flourishing a hand towards the golden-framed landscape before them and making sure to add in a flick of his hair, which he _knew_ looked good (Ayame didn't notice, but several girls across from them did and dissolved into high-pitched giggles). "An apparently ordinary landscape, and yet when I look deeper I see such extraordinary beauty, which reminds me only of you, _mon chéri_."

Ayame's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly as she wordlessly peered at the painting through her delicate glasses, her curly hair twisted into an elegant knot.

Tamaki happily continued, rather enjoying himself. "The silver pond, catching the moonlight in such an exquisite way, reminds me of the mysterious and beautiful depths of your eyes, which I could stare into forever…"

The 'mysterious' eyes in question still didn't look very impressed.

"See the delicate way the artist has illuminated the scene; how beautifully they have soaked everything in silver moonlight. Truly, I can't help but envision how exquisite you would look, my dear, bathed in such light…"

Ayame's eyebrows rose sceptically.

"The smooth body of the lone tree reminds me of your flawless skin-"

"Please don't compare me to a lump of wood," Ayame cut in un-romantically, before adding with a motion to the label, "Have you seen what this painting is called, Tamaki? You do realise you're likening me to a 'barren and abandoned wasteland', don't you?"

Tamaki blanched in horror comically but before he could splutter, 'Tha- that's such a misnomer!' or, 'I mean it in the most flattering way possible!' or maybe even, 'And yet I still made it sound beautiful - aren't you impressed?', she smoothly continued.

"I think your useless flowery words at that portrait were phrased better, really," she commented, as though she was grading him.

Tamaki paused, wiggling his nose slightly in serious thought (Ayame - to her horror - found this extremely cute and quickly busied herself with her complimentary glass of champagne) before a smug smile spread over his face.

"Well, I suppose it's an insult," he whispered suavely and entirely truthfully as his violet eyes gazed into hers, "to compare the beautiful woman I love to _anything_ - for nothing, even the beauty of a painting, can compare to you…"

Her heart thumped hard at that and Tamaki smiled softly as he watched her blush furiously and smother a smile by muttering, "Oh, do shut up." As he chuckled, she, slightly flustered, glared at a gawping passer-by before patting down an escaping strand of curly hair almost self-consciously and commenting quietly, "You better not let the artist hear you say that."

The only reason they'd chosen today to come to the gallery over any other was because the artist, along with several magnificent private pieces, was going to be there to open the exhibition. Tamaki had already made a point of congratulating the man heartily for the show before he'd even looked at any of his work, and he was now looking around for the artist almost eagerly, as though they were already friends.

"Oh yes! He might want to paint a portrait of you - I'd love that! _Ce serait merveilleux_!"

"Don't even think about it."

Tamaki was about to happily respond when a flash of colour caught his eye. Well, okay, there was a lot of colour there. But what he saw was a colour he instantly recognised as being the colour of rust and fire and devilish demons being sent out from hell's deepest depths to wreak havoc and torture God's chosen one…

In other words, he noticed the hair of one of the Hitachiin twins on the other side of the room.

He smiled and only stopped himself from calling out to wonder who the twin was with. The fashionably dressed redhead looked over at a painting and Tamaki instantly recognised the smiling face as Kaoru's, though he was surprised for a second that he was accompanied with neither Hikaru nor Haruhi - though he was sure that if his daughter _had _been there he would have spotted her instantly, because fathers could do that.

It was only when Kaoru moved slightly away from the crowd, pointing something out, that Tamaki spotted a petite girl next to him whom he'd never seen before, with dreamy grey eyes and a decisively podgy nose.

Apart from her dress, everything she wore seemed to be woolly; woollen tights, overlarge sheepskin boots, several long cardigans, a knitted satchel and finally, to complete the odd look, a stripy bobble hat with fluffy ear flaps, a pom pom perching on the top of her head like a cherry on a cake. It was hard to decide whether she looked ridiculously cute, or just plain old ridiculous. Apparently the people around her had decided on the latter as she was getting more than her fair share of odd looks; the short dark-haired girl however, seemed blissfully oblivious to this. She smiled mildly and stared at the painting Kaoru was motioning to with wide-eyed appreciation.

Tamaki raised a bemused eyebrow and smiled softly as he took in the happy look on Kaoru's face as he chatted animatedly to her, before finally shouting out to him, unable to restrain himself any longer.

"Kaoru!"

The younger twin visibly jumped before blinking and looking around until his golden eyes found Tamaki, who was waving enthusiastically; a strange look formed on his face. If Hikaru was there, he would have translated it half as, 'Oh look, it's Tono!' and half as, 'Get lost, you silly git'.

"Greetings, _mon ami_!" Tamaki chirped as, oblivious to Kaoru's thoughts, he merrily trotted over to him like a happy puppy, Ayame following him at a much more leisurely pace. "I didn't expect to see you here!"

"Likewise," Kaoru muttered dryly, casting a glance over to Mari before he allowed his hand to be clasped and eagerly shook by his blonde friend. He sighed. It wasn't as if he didn't like seeing Tamaki and it was nice to meet up… but did they have meet up _now_? He'd been waiting weeks for this stupid exhibition to open so he and Mari could go to it together and the prospect of it turning into a _double date _seriously sucked.

"Hello," Ayame greeted lowly in a tone which clearly stated that she hadn't warmed up to the Hitachiin family at all and, despite his thoughts, Kaoru couldn't help but teasingly smirk at her. She pointedly pretended not to notice, and he pointedly pretended not to laugh.

An irritable frown was just touching her face when Mari randomly spoke up beside him. "You have very nice eyes, Mister Kaoru's friend," she said. "Very purple."

Kaoru blinked and looked over at her. She was staring at Tamaki in mild curiosity, his suave violet eyes in particular, seemingly nonplussed at the sudden appearance of two strangers. Tamaki looked positively delighted.

"Indeed! They _are _a rather dashing colour, aren't they?" He beamed modestly, oblivious to Kaoru's dramatic eye roll, before he took Mari's hand and raised it almost to his lips, as par tradition (Ayame was used to this and, with the patience of a saint, merely sighed). "My name is Tamaki Souh, my dear. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Oh… Okay," Mari replied, looking bewildered and even more lost than usual - Kaoru couldn't really blame her. Tamaki's romantic quirks took a little getting used to.

Kaoru suddenly noticed the strange expression wrinkling Tamaki's princely features as he looked slowly over Mari's face; his deep eyes were crinkled in thought and slight confusion was furrowing his brow in a rare show of thought.

Finally, he opened his mouth and asked, appearing perplexed, "Have we met?"

Mari's eyes widened and looked back at him wordlessly, which made her look like a deer caught in the headlights, but she was quickly relieved of having to answer.

"Trust me Tono, I'm _sure_ you haven't," Kaoru answered for her in a sceptical drawl. Before Tamaki had a chance to pursue the subject, Kaoru quickly made a point of looking over his shoulder and said in an overly bright tone to the shorter girl, "Hey Mari, I want to go and look over there again."

At the sound of his voice, she blinked out of her stupor and shook her head slightly, as though clearing it from dust bunnies, before looking up at him blankly. "…Pardon?"

Kaoru couldn't help but smirk slightly as he pointed over in a random direction again, with no real idea nor care of where he was pointing to as long as it was in the opposite direction. "I really liked over there. Shall we go look again?"

Mari cocked her head thoughtfully, apparently oblivious to the fact he just making an excuse that she should run with, and then mused, "What was over there? I can't remember."

"Me neither," he said brightly. "So let's go and remind ourselves."

"That's a good idea," Mari answered seriously, nodding, before letting an easy, mild smile touch her face. "We don't want to forget anything."

"Nope." Kaoru grinned back happily before suddenly feeling the pointed weight of two pairs of knowing and, in Tamaki's case, amused eyes upon him. He coughed, blushed, and then muttered almost gruffly, keen to escape, "Uh, I- I'll see you later then, Tono. You too, Ayame… Bye…"

"See you, Kaoru!" Tamaki chirped back for both of them, smiling as he watched Kaoru hurriedly grab Mari's hand and pull her away from them, acting remarkably like an embarrassed teenager trying to escape the ultimate horror - an old family friend with a lot of chubby baby photos.

As he watched them disappear around into the crowd however, the soft smile fell away and a subtle frown returned to Tamaki's face as he furrowed his brow slightly in thought; he couldn't help a niggling feeling that he'd seen that girl - Mari, was it? - somewhere before. He hated not remembering a face, especially as his friend seemed to have taken a liking to her, and so was desperately scanning his brain for a name or a memory to link to the face.

Ayame noticed his furrowed expression and, with a slight frown of her own, softly tapped his elbow. When he blinked and looked down at her, she asked promptly, determinedly not letting any uncontrollable concern leak into her voice, "What's wrong, Tamaki?"

"Mm… I'm just trying to remember where I've seen her before…" he said slowly, looking musingly at the direction that they disappeared again and tapping his chin in a way that made him feel intellectual. "A few years ago, I think, but I just can't recall… where… Hmm."

She sighed and, resisting the temptation to urge him not to strain his already easily strained brain, pointed out logically, "Does it really matter? Surely if… the _twin_… is serious about her, he'll introduce you properly eventually."

Tamaki paused for another split second before suddenly beaming brightly, recovering so fast it was if someone had simply flipped a switch in his brain. "True, _mon chéri_! I'll just have to wait until then, _non_? In the meantime, let's go and see Monsieur Artist about that portrait!"

Ayame scowled.

* * *

Kaoru only realised that he'd walked in a totally different direction than the one he'd pointed to when he saw that they'd walked into one of the gallery's rooms that they hadn't looked around yet.

This practically put neon signs over his already transparent escape excuse, but he found that he didn't really care. If he knew Tamaki and his rarely-seen-but-always-present warm understanding, which he did, he knew that he wouldn't have bought it anyway. He was probably just happy to see his friend on what seemed to be a date - but really, Kaoru reminded himself with a sigh as he let go of Mari's hand, it was only a _between-friends_-date. Which wasn't nearly as good.

Mari curiously glanced once around the new room, stuffed her hands into the small pockets of one of her colourful cardigans and said brightly, "They seemed nice."

"Mm." Kaoru paused before smiling over to her and admitting, "Yeah, they are. Believe it or not, that blonde one was the first friend me and Hikaru ever made." He paused for a second before musing slowly, "Ne, it's weird to think of it like that now."

"He seems like he'd be good at being a First Friend," she responded seriously, nodding in thought and cocking her head as she considered something. "But I've never met a lord before. That was quite exiting."

"A… lord?" Kaoru blinked and stared at her blankly for a few seconds - it felt like a bit of a role reversal - before he finally realised what she meant. He instantly snorted in laughter. "_Oh_. 'Tono'. Nah, he's not actually a lord. It's just a nickname me and Hika made up because he speaks in such a stupid pompous way." He chuckled to himself, eyes twinkling. "I guess it sort of stuck - I barely even realise that's what I'm calling him anymore."

"Oh... A nickname," Mari parroted, a mild smile coming to her face after a second. "That's nice," she commented sincerely, before randomly floating forward to look at the collection of acrylic paintings.

Kaoru smirked quirkily and let his golden eyes wordlessly trail after her for a few long moments, before he finally trotted next to her. The room was small and box-like compared to the grand main hall and the walls were snowy and white, like a blank canvas, an artistic contrast to the explosions of colour and surrealism in the abstract paintings.

The redhead was looking at one such painting and trying to decide whether it was a person, a parrot or a guitar, when Mari suddenly noticed a doorway embedded into one of the pristine walls, purposely placed to blend into the background unless they made an effort to bring it into attention. She cocked her head with child-like curiosity before wandering a few paces over to it. A scarlet rope was slung across it at just above waist-level, making it clear that it was a no-excess area.

"What do you think is there?" she wondered aloud mildly, squinting into the gloomy hallway that she could see beyond the shadowy doorway. "Maybe an exhibition that isn't ready yet. Or it could be something illegal," she added casually, as though this was a perfectly acceptable possibility.

Kaoru decided that the cubist painting must just be a person-parrot mutant wielding a guitar, and glanced over at her. She was on her tiptoes and leaning inside the door slightly as she squinted her eyes to read something he couldn't see; her mouth silently formed the words as she read them.

He caught an older woman giving her a completely disapproving glare and, with a horrible mental image of ending their first date - first _between-friends-date _- by being thrown out of the gallery, quickly walked over to her.

"Hey, Mari, I don't think we're allowed to-"

Kaoru froze half sentence, aghast with himself when he realised, horrified, exactly what he was doing. Could it be that he, Kaoru Hitachiin, one of the famous twin pranksters of Ouran Academy, was actually telling her _not_ to trespass into an interesting and forbidden part of the gallery? Good lord. Horrible mental images or not, his younger self would be ashamed.

Therefore, without another thought on the subject, Kaoru stepped closer to her and, while pretending to look at a painting of a cubist banana, muttered out of the corner of his mouth, "Don't make it obvious but… is anyone looking at us?"

Mari blinked owlishly and then glanced around mildly. "…No," she confirmed after a thoughtful pause. "Just that old lady who - oh, she's looked away now. No one then."

Kaoru grinned. "Excellent."

Then he wordlessly grabbed her hand firmly and pulled her towards the door, ducking neatly under the rope barrier. Mari seemed quite bewildered, but luckily had enough sense to duck under it too, one hand to her head to secure her stripy bobble hat. The corridor they came to was shadowy and hollow, and the walls were embedded with dark doorways at regular intervals. A sign above their heads that Mari had been staring at declared the unopened part of the museum to be an exhibit on installation art, meaning each of the rooms would be a piece of art in its own right.

Painfully aware that anyone could spot them from the other room if they just stood there, Kaoru darted down the dark corridor with Mari in tow, feeling pleasantly rebellious, which he hadn't for a while. Most of the doorways were completely covered by heavy black curtains, but in one doorway the dark material had fallen to the side; within he could see the dim light reflecting on what appeared to be two spotless chairs and a table set up for afternoon tea, complete with little china tea cups and mock sugar biscuits.

Strange thing was, it was all hanging from the ceiling. Mari gave a little delighted giggle when she spotted it.

The younger twin smirked to himself, but fought the overwhelming temptation to look at her face for himself and instead slinked up to the end doorway, which he had chosen to head for because of little other than how far away it was from the crowded hall. He slipped into the chosen doorway, pulling Mari along with him. They couldn't tell whether the room they came to was big or small, cluttered or empty; as the heavy curtain fell back across the entrance it blocked out all the light, so they were standing, backs to the doorway, in complete darkness.

Mari had been giggling quietly since they saw the gravity defying tea set, but in this dark room her chuckles seemed to echo happily around them. Kaoru's own laughs soon joined them as he smiled blindly in the general direction of their clasped hands, feeling a recognisable thrill sparkling around giddily in his chest, born from sneaking into somewhere he shouldn't. It was a feeling he always associated with countless memorable incidents with Hikaru; the fact he could associate it with Mari made him unexplainably happy.

"I've never done anything like this before," she suddenly commented between her giggles, sounding bemused. "Do you do this a lot?"

"Well, you _know_…" Kaoru breezed over the question vaguely, flapping an unseen hand airily and grinning. "As Hikaru would say, 'forbidden' isn't in our vocabulary. Think anyone saw us? I can't hear anyone."

There was a pause and Kaoru imagined Mari cocking her head as she listened to the curtain, messy dark hair brushing over her dreamy grey eyes. "Mm… me neither… But they might just be very good at being very quiet. Like ninjas. I've always wanted to meet a ninja. I'm sure they would be very interesting."

"I'll introduce you to my dad sometime," Kaoru commented in an offhand manner, before deciding he didn't want to be sightless anymore and so let go of Mari's small hand, very reluctantly. "Lights…" he mumbled to himself as he groped along the wall, smooth fabric meeting his fingertips.

After a few moments of feeling his way blindly across the wall, he managed to find what felt like a smooth flat switch, which he hoped was the lights. He pushed it through the fabric and, after a prompt _click_, a dim light began emitting from something behind him.

He blinked; after stumbling around in the dark, he found that he was now facing the corner so the first thing he noticed was that the walls were smoothly draped with shimmering black material. The only stretch of wall that was breaking the illusion of deep blackness in the flat walls was in the corner, where the material was pinned back to reveal a plain sliding door; Kaoru guessed this would be covered when the exhibit opened and wondered curiously that was behind there.

He suddenly heard Mari make a sort of awed noise behind him, so glanced round to check out the rest of the room. He raised his eyebrows in appreciation when he saw it and just stood there for a few moments, drinking it in. Mari randomly sat down, Indian style, back leaning against the wall so she could look up at it and after a few moments, Kaoru joined her, his legs splaying out before him.

The shimmering black walls gave the illusion of the black sky, deep and never-ending, embedded with a small cluster of soft stars that seemed to drift further into the deepness yet float just before them at the same time. The artist had hung a scatter of diamond shaped crystals from the ceiling so they hovered in the middle of the small but deep room like stars, the string that held them totally invisible, very slowly turning in small orbiting circles. Gentle light shone from a beautifully carved angel frozen in their midst and as the light hit the floating crystals, it split.

Speckles of multicoloured fragments of light drifted over the walls, over the angel, over them, moving in a slow dance as the stars drifted.

Kaoru smiled at it before wordlessly turning to Mari and watching the rainbow-like fragments move across her almond eyes. The room was beautiful and, if you ignored the uncovered door and small pile of tools to one side that showed it's postponement, truly a room to get lost in.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Kaoru said softly after a second, slightly amused at the awed amazement on Mari's face as her eyes greedily drank everything in.

"It's like we're sitting in the sky," she wondered breathily, "with the stars."

_I'm awesome at picking doors_, Kaoru decided smugly, looking back to the room.

For a few minutes, they just sat there next to each other, dozily watching the crystals drift around above while tiny fragments of multicoloured light danced around them.

Eventually Mari said quietly, "If you stay in here long enough, I think you could forget anyone else exists. It's like we're the only people in the world."

She made this odd and poetic observation in such a casual way that Kaoru had to smirk. He couldn't help but wonder whether having the ability to say such unusual things so easily was a good trait or not; some people would find it easy to laugh at, or not be able to make an adequate response that didn't sound awkward. It didn't take Kaoru long to decide that either way, he liked it.

Before he could say anything back however, she added mildly, "Is this how you felt with Hikaru?"

Kaoru blinked owlishly and for a few moments just stared at her, suddenly thrown off. "...What do you mean?"

"You said you were always together, alone, until you met your First Friend. Sometimes, it must have felt as if you were the only two people in the world. Like this." She paused. "It must be nice to have a twin," she added almost wistfully, still looking at the drifting stars as though mesmerised.

Kaoru opened his mouth to respond, but found he couldn't, as though he'd run out of words without even saying any. He just took a slow, deep breath and continued to stare at her, something swelling in his chest and pressing against his lungs. He felt strange, torn. Half of him was in wonder of hearing her endearing observation of his and his dear twin's 'world', while the other half heard that last comment and felt… sad. She'd said it such a casual and accepting way, but to him it sounded terribly lonely. Not sad, but lonely.

He watched her in the dim light for a few more seconds - really, it was odd she hadn't noticed, but she was about as aware of her surroundings as a sea cucumber - before finally admitting softly, "Yeah, it was a lot like that."

She glanced finally over to him, as if she was mildly wondering whether he was just humouring her, to find his soft golden eyes staring back, closer than she thought he was.

"I've always been trying to branch my world out more and not be so dependent," he said quietly, "but sometimes I think I just... really, really like that feeling of being separate from the world, being alone with someone I love. I just need to find someone else to be with."

Almost without thinking, he then cupped her face softly and lent closer, his breath warm on her lips. He hesitated nervously for a second but she didn't pull away, so he finally closed his eyes and tentatively brushed his lips against hers. Hesitantly at first, then lingering a little longer, brushing away a strand of her hair indulgently with his fingertips.

After a few long moments, he drew away from the kiss and hovered a few inches from her for a cautious second before letting his eyes slowly open again. As he did so, Mari, slightly pink-faced and rosy-lipped, broke the intimate silence by accusing randomly, "You just stole my first kiss."

Kaoru stared at her. He lasted only five seconds before he snapped and burst out laughing uncontrollably, rocking back onto his hands. He had to bite his fist to muffle his guffaws and managed to smother them into sniggers, too amused to be embarrassed as he snickered, "Aha… Seriously?"

"Yes," she said, smiling mildly and blushing slightly as she watched his reaction, showing amazing nonchalance by not getting offended. She cocked her head and asked curiously, "Is that a surprise?"

"Well… kinda," Kaoru chuckled, golden eyes still shining wickedly bright in Hitachiin-like amusement. "S-sorry for laughing. It wasn't that- It was just how you just said it like that…" He paused to chuckle and teasingly grin at her, while brushing a flyaway lock of her short dark hair behind her ear; he would have ruffled it if she wasn't wearing a hat. "Aww, you're awesome."

Mari smiled at him and then looked down to her small hands, a pink flush spreading over her cheeks and podgy nose, finally looked slightly embarrassed and, a slightly giddy Kaoru decided, very cute. Being a Hitachiin and Hikaru's twin, he couldn't help leaning closer again and teasing devilishly, "Are you mad that I did?"

The blush darkened, to Kaoru's slight delight, and she seemed to uncharacteristically trip over her words. "I- Tha-that is-"

But she was cut off by a sudden sharp bark from behind the curtain, which promptly smashed the secluded illusion they had built up. "_Oi_! This area is off limits!"

Kaoru jumped in surprise and instantly scrambled to his feet, while Mari simply blinked from the floor, bewildered.

"Ah, crap," he mumbled, shifting hurriedly to the curtain to listen; he could hear someone - probably security - stomping around the hallway, checking in all the rooms, coming steadily closer and occasionally snapping, "Come out immediately! Damn kids."

Realising that the mental image of being forcefully kicked out - or worse - might come true after all, Kaoru quickly put his years of doing what he shouldn't to good use and began to scan the room for an exit, mind whirring. As Mari slowly stood up with a strange look on her face, as if the guard's shouts had reminded her of something unpleasant, Kaoru's sharp eyes locked onto the should-be-covered door. He quickly hurried over and slid it open; apparently the room could do more than what they had seen, as this seemed to be a tech room, full of switches and wires and empty coffee mugs.

He quickly held a hand out to Mari. "Quick," he whispered urgently, though the effect was ruined slightly by the grin on his face. "We can hide in here."

But she still had that odd, thoughtful look on her face as she stared at her writhing hands, before finally looking up at him and saying almost nervously, "I've... I've got to tell you something, Kaoru."

_Terrible timing is cute until it gets us into trouble. _"Can you tell me in minute, maybe?" he asked conversationally, before jumping when the guard shouted irritably again, closer than he thought. "Quick," he repeated, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the small tech room, sliding the door quietly closed after them.

Mari blinked, as though waking up from the worried thought she'd suddenly had, and looked around the room as Kaoru stuck his ear at the crack in the door, listening hard to the guard's quickening progress. _We should be okay in here… the guy's probably just sticking his head in all the doors to see if we're in there, he won't search properly yet… _

But, he realised with a start as he heard a muffled bang from the room next to theirs, they'd left the lights on. _Crap._ The damn lights. It was too late to run out and turn them off now. It was going to be obvious where they'd been and more importantly, where they were now hiding…

Mari suddenly brought him out of his frenzied thinking with a light tap on his shoulder. "We should get out, don't you think?" she asked seriously.

Kaoru blinked up at her, questioningly quirking an eyebrow, and she mildly pointed over to a wide, dark-rimmed window set into the wall, the trunks of trees visible through it, showing they were on the ground floor. A key sat merrily in the lock.

He grinned wildly. "Brilliant idea."

* * *

It occurred to Kaoru ten minutes later that he _really _should have thought of security cameras before cheerfully skipping into a restricted area and messing around with the exhibit. One thing was for certain, neither he nor Mari (nor Hikaru, consequently - the curse of sharing a face) was going to be able to walk past the security booth and into that gallery for a long while.

Still, it had been worth it.

The guard had been right on their heels when they jumped out of the window and legged it down the street, only stopping once they were four whole blocks away, by which time they were both heaving for air and clutching stitches in their sides, born from both running as fast as they could and laughing loudly as they did so. The evening February air was cold and bitter against their skin so, even though she was warm enough in her woolly attire, Kaoru made a point of immediately calling her a taxi; though, as she _did_ look pretty snug, he let it slide when she rejected his offered jacket and instead wrapped it around himself.

As they stomped their feet and waited for the taxi, still grinning as the rebellious rush drugged their heads, Kaoru suddenly remembered what Mari had said when they were escaping.

"Oh yeah," he said thoughtfully, rubbing his hands together for warmth. "What was it you wanted to tell me in the gallery? We didn't really have time then..."

Mari thought for a second and then, as she remembered with a sinking feeling what she had to say, she instantly grew uncomfortable. She frowned down at her boots and rubbed a mark on the pavement with her toe. "Oh... yes, well, you see... Um."

He raised his eyebrows, more concerned than anything else raise, and was about to reassure her that she didn't need to tell him if she didn't want to when she burst out, "It's my birthday tomorrow. My twenty-first."

This obviously wasn't what she was planning to say initially, but it still threw him off.

"_What_?" he spluttered, mouth falling open. "Really? Ah, you should have told me! I could have gotten you something."

"I don't... you don't have to get me anything... But, can you come over sometime? I haven't got work but I- I need to talk to you."

He smiled easily, his mind busy whirring with sudden ideas. "Yeah, sure. Hey, I could take you out for dinner and you can talk to me then! In fact… you could come to mine for dinner, and then Hikaru and Haruhi could meet you…"

His eyes were suddenly shining bright and a happy grin lit up his face as he thought of it. It was _perfect_. He suddenly couldn't wait. Finally being able to introduce her to Hikaru. And Haruhi too. All of his important people. But as what? A girlfriend? Could he say that now? It seemed silly to ask…

His exited train of thought derailed and his grin faltered and fell slightly when he noticed the hesitant look on her face, her grey eyes crinkled. He shifted his feet awkwardly, suddenly feeling disillusioned. "Ah… Sorry. You don't… have to meet them."

"Oh… No, it's not that," she confirmed, shaking her head, the pompom on her hat bobbing around as she did so. "I'd like that very much. It's just… I need to talk to you," she repeated, uncharacteristically nervous. This seemed to be the crucial point; she looked like she was forcing herself not to get distracted and stay on track, in a way that was almost child-like.

A taxi suddenly turned into the street, its yellowing lights pooling across the road. Kaoru motioned to it with a wave before glancing back down to her and saying kindly, "Okay. I'll come over about one when it's my lunch hour then, if you like. So we can talk. Uh, everything's okay, isn't it?" he added, pulling his brows together into a worried frown that Hikaru fondly called his 'I-worry-too-much-and-I've-found-another-problem-that-doesn't-really-exist-because-I'm-a-worry-wart' frown. Needless to say, Kaoru didn't like this name.

"Yes, everything's okay…" she muttered lightly, eyes averted and locked onto the taxi as it pulled up to them. She wrinkled her nose for a second, looking as though she was trying to untangle her timeline and work something out. She either managed to solve it, or just gave up such practical thinking, because then her face smoothed and she smiled dreamily up at him. "Yeah… See you then. Thank you for the date. It was fun. I've never climbed out of a window before."

"First time for everything," he quipped with a half grin at his commoner friend.

He paused hesitantly, before finally deciding to shrug off that niggling concern about what Mari wanted to say and was getting so nervous about. Hikaru always said he over-thought everything and Mari was caught up by strange things; _yeah_, he thought to himself brightly, _everything's going to be fine. In fact, tomorrow's going to be great._

Cheered up immensely by this thought and by the feeling of the wonderful time he'd had in general, Kaoru opened the taxi door for her and mock bowed, much to Mari's amusement. He couldn't say for sure who moved first but, just before she ducked into the car, a small, shy kiss was shared.

"Goodnight, Kaoru…"

He grinned. "Night, night."

* * *

Mari settled into the scratched leather car seat as it began to move, rumbling beneath her like an old tiger. Kaoru had cheerfully told the driver the address of her apartment block for her and he had now disappeared into the gloom as the taxi unhesitatingly swerved away; he'd assured her that he could get home fine by himself.

Her constantly drifting thoughts found their way to him and there they lingered, on the rich red of his hair and the soft gold of his eyes. She closed her eyes and a hand subconsciously floated to her mildly smiling lips as she let her mind go back over the night in dreamy detail.

She had to tell him tomorrow. She should have told him earlier, really, but she didn't want to so she'd put it off. She always did that, put reality off, just so she could stay in the illusion just a little bit more. She didn't know what he'd think of the reality. Or of the fact she'd neglected to tell him for so long…

_Liar_.

A ghostly feeling of possible hurt and betrayal began to creep up on her and Mari quickly scrunched her eyes up tighter. No, she didn't want to think of that. It upset her to think of it, so she plain didn't want to; instead, she tried to fall back into the memories of today. But then her eyes flew open as she realised where the taxi driver was taking her, where Kaoru had told him. Her apartment. She'd almost forgotten she didn't live there anymore.

Mari shifted forward and lightly tapped the glass that separated her from the gruff driver. He seemed faintly grumpy at the interruption but nevertheless lowered the volume on his radio and opened the window.

"Wha's up, love?" he drawled, sparing her one look before he turned back to the road.

"I'm sorry, Mister Taxi Driver, but my friend gave you the wrong address. I don't live there anymore."

Irritation swept over his bulldog-like face, which was already looking pretty annoyed at being called 'Mister Taxi Driver'. "Blimey, yeh could've told me tha' before I drove 'alf the way there, couldn't yeh?" he grumbled, though as she told him the right address his eyes widened and his face paled slightly.

Unnerved and unused to having someone like that in his old car, he turned all of his attention back to the road and muttered, "Righ' away, Miss."

* * *

**8)**

**Gosh, that was hard to write xD I'm fretting about whether I got everyone and everything across right, especially the bit at the end. Gosh, gosh, gosh. I was so concerned about how I was going to write the end that I got all nervous writing it. A bad sign? Aha...**

**As an extra tidbit, it's almost been a year since I wrote the first chapter of my very first Ouran story, '101 ways…' It's so weird. I like to think I've improved…;;; Um…;;**

**Yeah. I hope you liked it! Pretty please review!**

**xxx**

**P.S. How do you make an amateur-wannabe-author-in-training squeal, hyperventilate and burst into happy flames all at the same time? Pounce upon her unsuspecting self with adorable HikaHaru fanart! :D Thank you so much KinKitsune! Link's on my profile so everyone please go and see it! It's adorable and awesome and amazing and made me grin for ages. Even the next day, when my teacher announced that I was having a biology test, I was grinning as I cried in dismay. Good stuff.**

**P.P.S. I'm thinking of doing NaNoWriMo next November; it looks fun (I probably won't have time but, you know, I'll try anyway). Has anyone done it before? Or, even better, want to do it with me? xD**


	26. Pretty little broken things

**Pretty little broken things

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**

Kaoru was in a good mood.

In fact, he mused happily as he walked down the pavement, shoes tapping the concrete cheerfully, he was in a _really_ good mood. He smiled at nothing in particular, waved to a group of squealing children on the other side of the road and chirpily swung his arms, the lush bouquet of fuchsias he held banging against his hip. Flowers were something of a cliché of course, but it had been a last minute thing; after all, Mari only told him about her birthday last night.

He smiled wider at the thought. The younger twin had been in such a good mood all morning that he'd even happily said hello to Leiko (who, in her self-centred way, felt that if he was so happy it could only mean one thing; something bad was going to happen to her. She'd been paranoid and suspicious ever since).

Kaoru was currently on his way to Mari's apartment, walking to work off some of that giddiness, and an hour or so earlier than expected. He couldn't help it; he really wanted to see her again, and he was dying to see the look on Hikaru's face when he went back to work and casually threw out, 'By the way, I'm inviting my girlfriend over for dinner tonight. Did I not say I have a girlfriend? Ah, sorry. I have a girlfriend.'

Or could he really call her that? Kaoru stuffed his free hand into his flapping blazer pocket and stared upwards thoughtfully.

Though the date last night did seem more than a _between-friends_-date as they did kiss - _twice_, Kaoru elaborated with a happy smirk - the word 'girlfriend' had never actually been used - nor was 'boyfriend', for that matter. Though it could almost be seen as a given, maybe he should make sure and just throw it out there today to see her reaction or he could, as terribly teenage as it may be, just ask her. 'Hey Mari, I really like you, do you want to be my girlfriend?'

_Talk about acting terribly teenage_, Kaoru mused to himself with wrinkled nose and an inwards groan at the giddy and repetitive direction of his thoughts. _Seriously… _He used to tease Hikaru mercilessly for acting like this. Karma obviously wanted to give Hikaru a chance to have his turn.

He paused and the image of Mari, with her grey eyes and podgy nose, swam into his mind's eye. He smiled again. _Still. It's worth it._

Kaoru turned a corner and the reddish stone of Mari's apartment building finally came into view, the worn, vintage building standing tall on the side of the road. His heart jumped excitedly as he passed the bouquet from hand to hand and walked into the building. He didn't bother to hesitate around the commoner objects so he could sight see this time.

Instead, he walked straight up the stairs, taking two at a time, feeling warm and happy and _awesome_.

"Hey, wait! You!"

Kaoru blinked and, with a blank look, glanced over his shoulder at where a podgy woman with curly hair was calling to him. She was standing outside the apartment door he had just passed, fuzzy slippers on her feet and some forgotten letters in her hand, and was squinting at him with great interest.

"Yes?" Kaoru asked politely, telling himself that it would be most _un-Kaoru-ish _of him to get impatient.

"You," she repeated, smacking her lips as she spoke. "I've seen you before. You going up to four to that girl again?"

Kaoru didn't really like to make judgements on people straight away, but something about her instantly put him off; her eyes were shining bright and her smacking lips were twitching in greedy anticipation, as though she was enjoying spreading some scandalous gossip and was waiting on tenterhooks for a reaction.

"Apartment four, yes," he said slowly, hovering on the steps, half of him wanting to do what Hikaru would unhesitatingly do in that situation and just turn his back on the podgy woman and walk up the stairs. People to see, things to do.

But the younger had a bit more patience than that and so, tapping his fingers on the crinkled paper around the flowers, waited long enough for the woman to attempt to smother a delighted smirk as she said, "Ah, well. You shouldn't go up there. I guess she didn't tell you. Dear, dear."

Kaoru hesitated in suspicion, a slightly annoyed pout on his face, but reluctantly found himself rising to the bait. "… Why shouldn't I?"

"Well," she sighed sorrowfully, looking delighted, "she won't be there. Upped and left, she did, a few days ago. No word of goodbye or nothin'."

Kaoru froze. "Left…?" he parroted slowly, staring at her.

Settling herself against the doorframe, her eyes glinting with gossip-fuelled delight, the podgy woman nodded dramatically.

"She did. Never talked to her really; she was never here too much, always out and stayed somewhere else every weekend. Weird how she left so suddenly. No one up there now." She paused to squint at him sorrowfully, clearly enjoying herself. "Boyfriend, are you? Or," she added as her black eyes scanned his designer attire pointedly, "does she owe you money? Probably the type…"

"She doesn't _owe me money_," Kaoru corrected sharply, though his mind was struggling to work out this new information. It didn't make sense. She'd asked him to meet her here. He didn't feel hurt - just a bit worried and incredibly confused. Lost for anything else to do and feeling pressed to do _something_, he stoically dipped his head into a slight bow in the woman's direction before beginning to wander back down the stairs.

"Thank you," he said casually to her as he passed, having to resist the urge to add what a horrible fashion sense she had - that dress looked about fifty years old - when he noticed how disappointed she looked that he hadn't reacted more dramatically. This was probably the most drama she'd seen in weeks.

"No problem," she grumbled, eyeing him in disgruntled disappointment with the lack of reaction. "Will she be coming back, do you know?" she called after him suddenly.

Kaoru paused and glanced over his shoulder before wordlessly shrugging his shoulders, vaguely amused. If he didn't know she'd left, he'd hardly know that, would he?

"Right. Well. I personally wouldn't mind if she didn't. She has horrible taste in music."

He couldn't help but smirk as she then turned on her heel and closed the door.

* * *

"So," Kaoru muttered to himself. "What now?"

He'd walked out of the building and was now hovering rather pointlessly on the pavement outside, fiddling awkwardly with the blooming fuchsias in his hand, which seemed quite silly now, and glancing up and down the abandoned street.

Why wasn't Mari there? She'd moved? She'd asked him to meet her there. But then again, she thought he'd be meeting her at one, and he was at least an hour early. Maybe… the news she had to tell him was that she had moved away - he could handle that, no matter how far it was - and she'd planned to meet him at the door to tell him, not expecting that he'd arrive early and be faced with an empty apartment.

Possibly, possibly…

He frowned. But this had been the address that he'd told the taxi driver last night and she didn't say anything then. And it seemed a bit too round-a-bout a way… though, he supposed, it _was _Mari. The world worked to her in strange - endearing, but strange - ways.

Feeling more lost than ever, he looked hopelessly around him once again and, deciding that he was doing no good just standing there, delicately placed the flowers by the doorway. He'd just come back later, though he couldn't really take those with him while he waited. Maybe she'd find them when she returned. Think of him. With a final sigh, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and began to wander down the road, trying not to over-think everything, though really, that was what he did best.

And then, as he passed the dirty alleyway that ran down the side of the stone apartment building, something winked at him.

Kaoru froze.

He then hurriedly unfroze and backtracked so he could stare in horror at what was in the alley. His heart dropped. The shock, which had been dull and confused before, turned painfully clear and sharp, a clean stab in the gut. Sluggishly, he walked up to rubbish skip that had been hidden from view, skulking away like a thief in the weed-infested and grubby alleyway, and stared.

Inside was the little copper cat that Mari had lovingly crafted, inspired, she said, by the warm copper of his hair. The delicate wire was dirty and dented, its body bashed and deformed. Its carefully made face was bent at a sharp edge, the neck all but broken by someone carelessly dumping it in. One of its golden eyes was missing, leaving a crooked hole, but the other stared up at him pitifully. The endearing little mouse he'd loved so much, that had once sat on the cat's paw, was nowhere to be seen.

Kaoru swallowed, feeling slightly sick, and looked about the rest of the grubby, battered skip. More little wires figures - little people and animals - were tossed inside, bent and snapped and abandoned. There were so many that it seemed to be every single one that she had made in that little room, laid out before him like the lost after a war.

There was something incredibly sad about seeing pieces of art, which had been crafted straight out of someone's heart, thrown out like garbage. As a lover of art, and as Mari's friend, he could appreciate that. Seeing this very nearly broke his heart.

His head dipped a little, dragged down, and he dully noticed something by his feet. A translucent, amber coloured marble. A little eye. He stared at it for a second, then picked it up and wordlessly forced it back into the cat's vacant eye socket.

Just so the pretty little thing could look sad and pathetic with two eyes.

* * *

Kaoru wasn't sure why he was going to the bakery.

He was wildly concerned and confused now and, though she wasn't working today, it was the only place he could think of. If she wasn't there, he'd just have to wait for an hour and then see if she turned up at the apartment, though he felt too worried and restless for that. The sight of her work lying battered and abandoned had unnerved him, more than he cared to admit.

He walked quickly, with long strides, mind buzzing with anxious wonder though it didn't seem to get very far in working out an explanation. Blowing on his hands to try and warm them up, Kaoru frowned to himself as he strode down the pavement, passing shops and people, eyes flittering around. His wrinkled, golden eyes caught onto someone across the road and it took a few seconds of him simply frowning and watching them walk along for him to realise who he was staring at.

He blinked. It was Mari, but… was it really?

No. No, it was. He recognised her profile and that dreamy way in which she moved, her eyes taking everything in apart from the people she was almost running into, but her soft flyaway hair had been chopped into a severe pixie cut that didn't suit her at all. Her clothes weren't the usual odd, colourful variety; she wore a long coat, knee-length skirt and sensible shoes that looked like someone else's choices. They were all a painfully coordinated and boring black, apart from the plain red scarf logically wrapped around her neck.

Kaoru stared in the absolute horror only a fashion designer could summon up when faced with such a stark change in appearance. Someone - he couldn't believe Mari herself had picked such a bland outfit - had dressed her up and made her look… made her look… _normal_. Not just that but… _socially acceptable_. Dear God. Where was the bobble hat and ear flaps of yesterday? And don't get him started on the chopped hair.

He was just wildly considering the possibilities of an evil twin with a boring fashion sense, or maybe even an alien abduction, when Mari glanced around her, started slightly and quickly backtracked back to the shop she had just walked past, apparently too busy letting her mind wander to notice. Kaoru paused and then took a closer look at the shop, his eyebrows rising in disbelief when he realised what it was.

A clothes boutique so expensive that even it's shopping bags were considered a novelty by commoners and, though it wouldn't even dent the considerable money in Kaoru's pocket, was certainly out of the average waitress's price range.

Shaking off that slightly stalker-ish feeling that came with what he was about to do, Kaoru hesitated by a food stand opposite the boutique and pretended to be looked at its selection of on-the-go food while instead he peered through his bangs, mystified as he watched her.

She walked straight to the counter, sparing the glitz and glamour a vaguely interested look, before she said something to the clerk. With a bright suck-up smile, all sparkling teeth and helpfulness, the clerk nodded, ducked behind the counter and reappeared a second later with a pale pink bag, the name of the boutique written on the side in delicate gold writing. Smiling a momentary, fake-looking-even-from-over-the-road smile, Mari took it and promptly left. As far as he could see, no money had been exchanged.

Instead of falling even deeper into the depths of confusion, a conclusion was beginning to form in Kaoru's mind, which left a dark and horrible feeling clutching his gut. A word began to build up and up, against his wishes, painting itself on the forefront of his mind as he suddenly ran over the road, blind to traffic, and called out to her.

_Liar._

"Mari!"

Mari jumped so violently she nearly dropped the treasured bag in her fumbling fingers and turned, wide-eyed, to find Kaoru appear before her, one hand landing on her shoulder, a strange expression on his face.

For a few long moments, they just stared at each other, both suddenly slightly out of breath. Kaoru found that, despite all the gusto and urgency he'd felt jogging towards her, he was now lost for what to actually say to her that wasn't resorting to simply blurting, Hikaru-like, '_What the hell?_' Mari seemed too surprised to break to silence herself, so the role fell to the chauffer of a black Mercedes-Benz that had been waiting outside the boutique for a good ten minutes. Kaoru had barely noticed it, and similarly only vaguely noticed that someone had popped out of it.

He was a prim, tidy-looking man and after tipping his glossy hat to Mari and saying '_Good morning, Miss_', gave Kaoru and his hand a thoroughly distrustful look. "Is everything okay here?" he asked haughtily, with a last suspicious look at the redhead before bowing slightly to Mari again. "Miss, we really should be going."

That was the last straw.

Kaoru let his hand fall from her shoulder.

Hurriedly nodding towards the chauffer wordlessly, looking nervous and almost scared, Mari opened her mouth but Kaoru spoke up before she could say anything. He kept his voice level and emotionless, forcefully stopping the shock and hurt bleeding through his entire body to leak into it. It was a simple mask and he was a brilliant actor.

"Who are you?"

Mari was a terrible actor. He watched something change in her grey almond eyes and the tension flood out of her petite body, just to be with replaced with a slow and accepting sadness. She just watched him softly, her resolutely closed lips practically dragging out his words to fill the silence.

"You're not a… commoner at all, are you?"

Still she didn't say anything, though really that was answer enough. A horrible, dirty thought was beginning to eat into his mind and his attention was uncontrollably drawn to the memory of Leiko leaning towards him over her thousand plus meal, delicately placing her expensively manicured hands together as she tried to prise out of him the ways in which she could manipulate his brother into giving her what she wanted.

Into falling for her.

Kaoru stared at the smaller girl in front of him, dreamy grey eyes averted sadly to the floor, severe haircut drawing attention to her podgy nose, dressed in dark expensive clothes that he'd pegged as completely out of character.

…Had he been an idiot?

He desperately didn't, couldn't, believe it of Mari, his sweet and unassuming friend, who he'd spent countless hours becoming closer to. She had become incredibly important to him and he really did-

No, he couldn't believe that the girl he'd slowly got to know would do something so cruel and underhand. But either way, she'd lied to him. And had been doing so for months. That was obvious. Confusion turned to desperation, turned to harsh assumptions. His emotions churned furiously in his gut, betrayal overflowing and leaking into his eyes.

"You know who I am. Did you know who I was from the beginning? Were you just…"

His words trailed off. Mari continued to stare at her feet but she finally spoke, her voice quiet, resigned and distant. "I knew when you… when you told me your name and said you worked with your twin in… fashion…"

"…I never said twin," Kaoru realised, staring at her.

"No," she agreed in a whisper.

His throat clenched and his next words tumbled out of his mouth without his permission, needing a denial. He imagined Leiko smirking widely at him. "Were you just using me?"

Mari's eyes widened and she hurriedly looked up and opened her mouth but her words caught before they had even began, as though she had suddenly realised she wasn't allowed to say them. No shame showed on her face but the corners of her lips tilted downwards slightly as she wordlessly looked at him, neither denying or confirming.

And the silence hurt.

Without really realising what he was doing, Kaoru turned on his heel and began to walk away from her. He concentrated on breathing, and keeping his heart sheltered and whole, away from the painful betrayal. How important was someone you could lie to for months on end? He suddenly couldn't stand to do, or even think of, anything but walking away.

Though if she'd called him back then, he knew he would have turned. His own nature would have forced him to stop and turn around. She had that chance to call him back, tell him her side of the story, and he'd forgive her and it would be fine and he'd introduce her to his brother tonight. They'd have dinner because today was her birthday.

He didn't realise how much he was counting on her calling him back until she didn't.

Never had Kaoru thought that the soundtrack to his breaking heart would be the everyday noise of a car pulling away from him before dissolving into the traffic.

* * *

Haruhi was sitting on her bed, reading contently, when Hikaru's phone began to ring.

She blinked at it owlishly for a second and then looked over at the door that led to their en-suite, where, she guessed from the loud gush of water, Hikaru was still in the middle of a shower. She hesitated before uncertainly shifting over to it and, after placing her book to one side, glancing at its screen. When she realised that it was Kaoru's name flashing insistently on the small screen, she smiled and had no qualms in smoothly picking it up and jabbing a button.

"Hello," she greeted promptly.

There was a long pause before Kaoru mumbled quietly, "Ah… Hey Haruhi. Uh - where's Hikaru?"

"In the shower," she informed him bluntly as she looked over at the bathroom door again, where he now seemed to be singing.

"Oh… He'll be a while then," Kaoru laughed weakly, though it was a laugh void of any real humour. Haruhi frowned at his tone as he hesitated before adding, "Uh… can you pass a message to him for me?"

"Sure."

"Can you tell him to get a room ready for me? I'm going to move."

A few long moments of silence followed this. Haruhi's eyes widened wordlessly as she tried to process his words, before she finally muttered, "What do you mean?"

"I'm moving back home; I'll be there with my stuff tomorrow." Haruhi just stayed silent for a minute, lost for what to say to this sudden announcement, so he eventually explained, his voice strangely monotone. "I have to move back sooner or later, so I just thought I'd speed up the process. So I'm closer to… well, to family. That's what matters, right?"

"…Kaoru, what's wrong?" Haruhi finally demanded straightforwardly.

"Nothing's wrong. I just want to move back."

"Something's happened. I can tell. Your voice sounds different too."

"…"

"Please, Kaoru-"

"Nothing's wrong, little sister. Don't worry about me," he laughed in a sudden overly-cheerful tone that sounded decisively forced, before he added hurriedly, as though he was keen to get off the phone, "So yeah, please tell Hikaru that. Bye Haruhi!"

And with that, he was gone.

Haruhi lowered the phone from her ear and stared at it silently, concern for her brother-in-law written all over her face. She remembered Hikaru vaguely commenting how he'd hardly seen Kaoru after lunch that day - it had never occurred to him that his twin might be avoiding him because of… something.

Haruhi was so engrossed in wondering worriedly what had happened, as something obviously had, that she didn't notice that the shower had been off for a few minutes until the door suddenly opened. She glanced up to find Hikaru standing there with his head cocked curiously, holding one towel loosely around his waist and a second to his dripping hair.

He nodded at the mobile. "Did somebody just phone? I thought I heard you talking."

"Yeah…" she said slowly, drawing her eyes away from him and back to where his mobile rested on her leg. "It was Kaoru."

A carefree smile instantly tugged at Hikaru's face at the name. "Cool," he said casually, walking back into the bathroom to hunt out a hairdryer as, though 'cool' it may be, Kaoru calling wasn't really anything new. "Did he want anything?" he called back to her as he began to wrestle with the hairdryer's tangled wire. "Or did he just want to say hi?"

"He told you to make a room up for him. He wants to move back here."

"_Huh_?"

Haruhi watched the door as, after a _clunk _of the hairdryer promptly being dropped, Hikaru's head hurriedly reappeared.

"Why does he want to do that?" he demanded, sudden concern for his brother coming through clear in his voice. When Haruhi only responded with a slow, silent shrug, he added almost angrily, "But he loves it there! He said so, and he gets to go to that weird bakery he likes. Why does he want to move? Did something happen? Is he okay?"

Haruhi sighed at Hikaru's rapid-fire questions, wishing she could say something to calm his sudden feverishness down, but she was as in the dark as he was.

All she could do was look back down at the phone and say truthfully, "I don't know."

* * *

**8'D**

**This was a challenge to write, but weirdly enjoyable. What to reveal, what not to reveal. Whether to make emotions intense or subtle. I seriously doubt I got everything just right, but this was what I was concentrating on. Was there something I need to work on? **

**8] I hope you enjoyed reading it and thank you to everyone who has followed this up to here. Much love to you all. **

**Please review!**

**xxx**

**(P.S. Sorry Kaoru!;;)  
**


	27. A bit of bromance

**First update of 2011! Happy New Year!

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**

**A Bit of Bromance**

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**

Hikaru tapped his chin thoughtfully, carefully scrutinising the printed timetable that his secretary (and mother) had practically _forced _him under punishment of death to make for his and Kaoru's trip to Europe next week. He tapped a section of it and began talking, starting with four words he so very rarely used.

"So I was thinking," he said, "as we have a gap in our timetable _here_, we could meet up with Amber Bousquet and whoever she wants to bring for dinner that night. I think she's got the potential to be a really successful modern designer, so we should get a connection built now rather than later, so it doesn't look like we're just jumping on the band wagon… Could probably give her some backing too. What do you think? …Kaoru?… Oi… _Kaoru_!"

The younger twin started violently, accidentally kicked the desk and yelled at the top of his voice. Hikaru raised his eyebrows as Kaoru grabbed his poor foot before blinking over at him owlishly, having obviously not heard anything his brother had just said.

"Sorry, what?"

Hikaru huffed.

They were both seated in plush, green leather office chairs at Hikaru's desk, on which all the plans for their forthcoming trip were laid alongside the ever present colourful coffee mugs and occasional sketch. Neither much felt like paperwork but Hikaru, for once, was forcing them through it; Kaoru certainly wasn't going to. Ever since he'd moved back into the mansion a handful of days ago, he'd been distant and broody, happier to let his mind wander than get to work. And Hikaru wasn't sure he liked being the 'practical' twin.

"Amber Bousquet. Dinner. Giving her some backing before we look like leeches."

"Oh, right," Kaoru muttered, looking down at the timetable and actually managing to easily get the whole picture from his twin's chopped run down. "That's a good idea. Both of us?"

"That's what I was thinking. She could bring a date if she likes."

"Right…"

Kaoru nodded vaguely but offered no other comment, a fact which brought Hikaru's eyebrows together in a frustrated frown. Aggravated, he opened his mouth to demand what he was thinking about when the door burst open and they heard the distinctive tones of their mother announcing herself by asking brightly 'How are my boys doing?'

Kaoru looked up and arranged his face into a convincing smile but Hikaru didn't bother; rudely, he merely glanced once in greeting in his mother's direction before continuing to scrutinise his twin, a faint scowl on his face.

_When Kaoru first walked into Hitachiin mansion again he didn't have time to gaze around the familiar grand space where he and Hikaru had grown up, which he was now to call home again. Instead the older twin offered him a different kind of nostalgia by launching himself at him the moment Kaoru stepped through the doorway, both slinging his arms around his neck and hitting him around the head in one grand movement._

"_Hika-!" Kaoru blurted, eyes watering slightly because of the unintentional blow to the head as he tried to keep them both upright, but Hikaru quickly interrupted him._

"_What happened?" he demanded forcefully, drawing away and giving his brother a hard look. "Why're you here? Are you okay? Did someone upset you? Do you want me to punch them?"_

_Kaoru snorted at his big brother's barrage of demands as he detangled himself from Hikaru's limbs and took a step back to smile reassuringly at him. "You could act a _little _bit more welcoming," he teased before, seeing the stubborn crease between his twin's eyes, sighing and adding, "I told you last night. I'm fine. Nothing happened, really."_

_Hikaru scowled stubbornly. "I don't believe that for a second."_

_The younger twin's mouth twisted as though it was struggling with something and his golden eyes averted from Hikaru's as he bought himself a few moments by taking one of his smaller suitcases from a maid who happened to be passing as she brought them in. She bowed, nonplussed, and backed away to the car again, leaving the twins alone._

_Still looking down at the golden handle of the suitcase, Kaoru eventually mumbled, "I wish you would."_

_Hikaru frowned and scanned his brother's weary expression for a long, heavy moment, something alien and expecting hanging in the air between them, like a mirror between reflections, before he said shortly, "Well, I don't. I know you, Kao. What's wro-"_

_But before he could finish his sentence Kaoru had shifted over to him and, to his surprise, leaned his forehead gently against his big brother's shoulder, softly closing his eyes, as though silently asking for comfort. Hikaru froze, startled, and then tentatively and awkwardly patted Kaoru's back, his loud, stab-in-the-dark concern stifled suddenly by the show of vulnerability. And the younger twin did look vulnerable. Quietly but completely saddened to see his dear twin like that, Hikaru silently let a hand rest in his brother's familiar red hair comfortingly, the corners of his mouth inclining downwards._

_"Kaoru?"_

_"Please don't worry about me, Hika." _

_Not 'there's nothing to worry about', but 'don't worry about me'. A subtle but frustratingly vital difference that Hikaru instantly caught onto. He scowled, his fingers tensing harshly between soft locks of hair, but before he could say anything Kaoru had opened his eyes and, peering up at him from under his dark eyelashes, said lightly, "So. Where have you parked me?"_

_A few seconds past as the twins stared directly at each other, one's lips pressed into a firm and frustrated line while his doppelganger smiled mildly. Finally, "...Top floor. In the west wing."_

_Kaoru beamed. "The sunsets look nice from there."_

_"Yeah. I thought you'd like that."_

Not knowing what was affecting his twin so much was a sensation that Hikaru wasn't used to and he quickly decided that he downright hated it. He tried to take Haruhi's advice of 'just relax and let him clear his head himself' to heart but it ended up just aggravating him more, despite the fact it had only been a few days. If Kaoru didn't cheer up soon, he felt it was nothing less than his big brotherly duty to pin him down and force him to confess by any means necessary. And when a Hitachiin said 'by any means necessary', they _meant_ it.

Hikaru didn't realise that he was completely zoning out until a manicured hand suddenly began waving insistently in his face and he blinked owlishly as his mother cooed, "Earth to Hikaru? It's rude to ignore your mother, isn't it?"

"Uh- sorry." He quickly glanced at Kaoru before blinking up at his fashionably dressed mother who was standing before him, one hand on her hip, red lips twitching into a good-natured smirk. "What was you saying?"

She smiled and tapped a finger lightly to her cheek. "I was asking you about that timetable. Have you finished it? Useful, isn't it?" she added in a teasing, mother-knows-best type of tone, eyes twinkling.

Hikaru made a show of dramatically rolling his eyes and huffing in heavy reluctance before admitting vaguely, "Suppose. Assuming I don't jump off a bridge before the trip after seeing all these stupid meetings we've got to go to. I'm going to implode out of boredom after all this."

Yuzuha just laughed cheerily and Kaoru smiled mildly at their exchange before he blinked as his mother suddenly rounded on him.

"By the way, Kaoru," she said with a delicate and purposeful amount of casual light heartedness. Both twins swapped an exasperated look and could have spoken her next sentence along with her. "I need a little favour," she said lightly, flapping a manicured hand casually as, unbeknownst to her, Kaoru uncharacteristically stiffened at her words. "Just the usual I'm afraid; you're in quite high demand, aren't you? Must be my good looks in you. This girl actually requested a dinner - the daughter of the Hozumi family, she's called-"

"I don't want to do it."

Yuzuha blinked and looked at him in surprise. A sudden frustrated frown that didn't look right on the younger half of the twins' face was creasing his features as he all but scowled at a patch of thin air, not meeting any one of his family members' staring eyes. "Please tell her I'm sorry, but no," he muttered in a small, strained voice.

"Oh." Their mother blinked a few more times owlishly, surprised by the refusal that had never occurred before, and then probed insistently, "Are you sure? She's a very-"

"Mom, stop trying to set me up with women, okay? _I don't want to go_," he snapped irritably, cutting her off mid-sentence. This was so out of character that even Kaoru blinked in astonishment before flushing as the other two swapped a startled look. Embarrassed and uncomfortable, he fidgeted for a second and averted his golden eyes far away from his twin's before blurting, "S-sorry, Mom. I'm… going on my lunch break."

And without glancing once in Hikaru's direction, Kaoru hurriedly jumped up, grabbed his blazer and all but ran out of the office, feeling the heavy weight on his neck of eyes identical to his own.

As the youngest redhead retreated, he left a bewildered silence in his wake. Hikaru's mind was too busy whirring furiously as he stared after his brother to break it, so the job fell onto Yuzuha. She looked bemusedly over at her oldest son and said, apparently nonplussed that her ulterior motives had been found out, "Does he mean he's gay? If that's the case, I know a few very nice men he could go out with."

"Don't think so, somehow," Hikaru muttered, still glaring at the door. Then without warning he leaped up, snatched his jacket from the back of his chair and announced shortly as he strode out the door, "Lunch. See you later, Mom."

Yuzuha watched in bemusement as he stormed after his brother, then sighed.

_Kids.

* * *

_

Kaoru didn't blame Mari for what happened.

He'd been thinking about it a lot - naturally - and he'd decided that he couldn't blame her. She couldn't have been using him; if so, why had she been working at the bakery for months before he even bumped into her that night? And he'd observed plenty of times what a terrible actress she was; unless that was all an elaborate double bluff which, quite frankly, he was felt was a bit beyond her. Of course, she wasn't faultless, not in the least. But while those faults were not born of bravery or nobility, he was certain they were not born of maliciousness either.

Then again…

Kaoru stared solidly at the wooden door, purple paint fading away in parts, and slowly let his eyes drag themselves up to the little sign above the door.

_'A life without cupcakes is like an otaku without manga.'_

…He did seem to have this terrible, god-awful habit of only seeing the best in the people he loved and ignoring the faults unless absolutely necessary. Take Hikaru for example.

Sighing wearily, the thought '_what the hell am I doing?_' ran through his head even as he grasped the cold metal of the handle and pushed to let himself in. The sugary, doughy smell of the warm bakery pillowed into his face blissfully like a welcome back. He took a moment to look about him and found that a lot had changed yet, at the same time, not enough. Mari wasn't there, but the chairs, cakes and even that old man by the window were. It was like a beautifully familiar puzzle but with that vital piece missing, the one that you'd spend so long figuring out where it fits.

"I need to get over it," he muttered glumly to himself before wandering over to the counter after realising it wasn't the usual ooh-look-a-handsome-redhead looks he was receiving from those customers other there, but rather why's-that-weirdo-just-standing-at-the-door-like-that looks. Sigh.

At least Hikaru wasn't there to see him hover around pathetically like this. Kaoru almost groaned as he thought back to the office. He couldn't believe he'd actually shouted at his mother over something like that…

As he mildly scanned the rows of iced buns and thick sandwiches on show, the lanky blonde teenager he'd seen working there before walked out of the backroom, a grumpy, sour look on his face. As he looked up, Kaoru half expected him to swivel around and walk right back out again to get Mari, as he usually did. The younger twin couldn't help but smile mildly as he nodded to the guy and wondered lightly what Mari had said about him to get that sort of treatment. Had she talked about him?

"What d'you want?" the blonde muttered, breaking Kaoru out of his thoughts. He eyed the twin with deep distrust before adding, a second too late to be in any way polite, "-_sir_?"

Kaoru raised his eyebrows at the cold treatment but, after a split second of staring, decided he couldn't find it in him to demand an explanation. Instead he just smiled lightly and said, "Just a cappuccino, please."

"Right." The boy scowled before turning to make the drink with the old-style coffee machine behind the counter, slamming the mug down with a little more force than was necessary and causing several spoons to clatter to the floor.

_Wow_, Kaoru thought dryly to himself as he tried not to watch him wrestle with the spoons and grumble at the coffee maker. _Someone's in a bad mood. Not that he's ever liked me much anyway._

He sighed and, after hovering near the counter and twiddling his thumbs distractedly for a few minutes, watching as a couple of customers left, Kaoru found out exactly why the blonde teen kept scowling at him over his shoulder. It wasn't until he'd placed Kaoru's drink right in front of him that he finally spoke up and said shortly, "Mari resigned last week. I didn't think _you'd_ be back here."

The accusing glint in his eyes spoke volumes. Deflating slightly, Kaoru looked down to his drink as he cupped it between his hands and mumbled quietly, "Mm."

The boy went to speak again, but Kaoru had already walked off to claim a table.

The worst thing, Kaoru decided as he dropped into a solitary chair, was that he didn't know how he'd ever find her again and get the truth. It seemed impossible. What could he do, go around every remotely successful family in Japan and ask for a Mari? He didn't even have a last name. She clearly wasn't coming here again, either. It was useless.

_"If you stay in here long enough, I think you could forget anyone else exists. It's like we're the only people in the world." _

But he missed her, so much.

He robotically lifted the mug to his lips, not tasting anything. Sometimes, life kind of sucked.

Then there was a clatter of the door opening as someone entered and Kaoru looked up, straight into the eyes of Hikaru.

He told himself, as he stared up at his older brother, that he should be surprised. Yet honestly, he wasn't, as though he had secretly been expecting him to follow all along. What he did feel was an uncomfortable, creeping sensation along his chest.

His twin brother didn't look _right _there. Even though he was only standing still wordlessly, deep golden eyes now flitting around suspiciously as he flicked away a wandering strand of smouldering red hair, he looked too loud and vivid in the common bakery, seeming to fill up more room than he was actually occupying, demanding attention effortlessly.

His golden wedding band, sitting snug on his finger, seemed to be shining extra bright today.

Identical or not, Kaoru couldn't imagine that he looked nearly as other-worldly and impressive when he'd first walked into the quaint, quiet café.

"_Do you sometimes begrudge him that?"_

"_Hm? What?"_

"_That he's got a loving wife and children, so early on, while you haven't. It must get… lonely."_

"_Mm… I'd be lying if I said I haven't ever felt slightly envious. But mostly I'm just insanely happy for him, you know? It'd be easy to be bitter and envious, but it's even easier to sit back and just be happy that he is."_

"_That's a good philosophy."_

"_Yup. And… I'm sure I'll find it for myself one day."_

"_A good philosophy? I thought that was yours. Did you steal it from somebody?"_

"_No, I mean a- Never mind."_

Kaoru drug his eyes away from his brother and went back to staring wordlessly into the untouched remains of his coffee.

He heard Hikaru casually order a coffee for himself and then there were a few firm footfalls before the chair opposite him was dragged out, the legs scraping carelessly across the floor. He glanced back up as Hikaru dropped into it with a dark frown on his face, which made Kaoru sigh. For a few minutes, the two simply looked at each other.

Hikaru, predictably, decided to be the one to break the silence. "Something's happened," he stated bluntly, "and you haven't said anything to me about it."

It wasn't a question but Kaoru responded anyway, instinctively arranging his face into a smile. "I'm fine. Nothing's happened, I'm just tired-"

"Don't _lie _to me," Hikaru snapped, looking irritated. His eyes narrowed slightly. "I can tell when you're lying. You always put this silly grin on your face." Kaoru immediately dropped the grin. "I know we're not kids anymore, Kao, and we can't relay every little thing to each other - but something's upset you and I'm tired of not knowing what it is. I'm worried about you."

Kaoru stared at him for a few seconds, looking slightly - and stupidly, in an irritated Hikaru's opinion - surprised, though the expression was quickly replaced with a fond smile, genuine this time. If one of Hikaru's hands had been in reach he would have held it, but they were both curled into frustrated fists over his lap.

Instead, Kaoru just insisted quietly, "Don't worry about me, Hika. It's okay, really. No," he said hurriedly as his twin scowled and opened his mouth to complain. "I mean it, honest. I don't really want to… want to talk about it because there's nothing that can be done for it at this point. And it seems kind of… silly, I guess." He paused and then subconsciously grinned as he added, "I'm fine. I was just having a bit of a brood, that's all. I'm sorry for worrying you."

The older twin's eyes narrowed again. He'd matured a lot since high school and had since decided not to let his brother brush off his own circumstances anymore. It wasn't fair. Hikaru might not be as delicate at confronting and comforting as Kaoru was, but he was still going to have a damn good go in his own brash and fiercely concerned manner.

"If you're fine," he growled, leaning forward, "then why have you been so quiet lately, and why haven't you done a thing in your sketch book all week?"

"…You… looked in my sketchbook?"

"Duh. You look in mine. Oh yeah, another thing, you haven't nosed in my stuff for days. If that doesn't say something's up, nothing does."

'Great,' Kaoru sighed sullenly to himself, feeling the weight he'd momentarily pushed off his chest press hard against it again. 'So he chooses now to be observant.'

The younger redhead hesitated uncertainly for a few long moments, his mouth hanging slightly open as if he expected words to just materialise there, though he remained hopelessly lost for anything to say that didn't completely contradict his earlier insistences. He was confused and upset and - God - so tired of it all. Being heartbroken - and constantly staying up all night to try and paint away feelings - could do that to a guy.

Before he could dejectedly look back down to his cooling mug, Kaoru suddenly noticed that the skinny blonde waiter was finally bringing Hikaru's drink to him. Or, more specifically, he noticed the expression on his face. He was staring straight at the younger twin quite obviously, deep suspicion and distrust in his eyes. Though this did his already deflated mood no favours, Kaoru couldn't blame him. If the guy was looking for reasons for Mari's sudden resignation, for the loss of a friend, he must seem like a pretty big suspect.

Hikaru however, wasn't so understanding; he followed Kaoru's eyes with his own and frowned when he saw the blonde's sour expression. He had no idea why he was looking at his little brother in such a way but even so, Hikaru decided right then and there that he must just be a git. You had to be, to look at Kaoru like that. Hikaru turned back to Kaoru and hesitated deliberately until the blonde was adjacent to their table. Then, pretending not to notice him, he reached over and firmly grabbed his twin's hand.

"I just got away from the wife, and now I _wish _you'd tell me what's wrong," he began stage whispering dramatically, just loud enough for the waiter to hear, looking at his twin with an intense torn-lover sort of expression. Kaoru just looked back, mildly amused. "If you spend all our time together thinking," he added with a frustrated little sigh, "how can we have any _fun_?"

The blonde, who had faltered at first, instantly paled so he was as white as a sheet at that last suggestive comment. Apparently not a twincest fan - go figure - he looked positively horrified at the incestuous hint Hikaru had whispered, and Kaoru's nonchalant expression, not really bothered by the act, actually managed to make it worse.

Hikaru gauged his reaction from the corner of his golden eyes, evilly enjoying himself. He decided to go the whole hog and - as the waiter had given Kaoru a _very _dirty look - lifted a hand to softly cup his twin's face.

The blonde looked horrified and disgusted in equal measure. He seemed to be frozen to the spot, stunned after walking in what appeared to be a gay, intimate moment - a gay, intimate, _symmetrical_ moment. Identical twins hitting on each other. He was going to need some major mind soap after this. Scrap that, he was going to need mind _disinfectant_.

"I thought," Hikaru continued, deliberately slowly, curling his fingers, "that maybe, tonight we could-"

He didn't need to say anything else. There was a _clunk _as the scrawny blonde dropped the mug on the table, turned on his heel and hurriedly swerved away from the table and into the back room, where he was probably going to try to wipe the last three minutes from his head via any means possible. The moment he was out of sight, Hikaru dropped his hand and cackled loudly (it vaguely occurred to Kaoru that had anyone else been there he would have stopped their conversations dead with a cackle so devilish, but as it was the only other customer was the old Englishman who carried on staring transfixed out of the window).

Kaoru smirked mildly at his twin before commenting, "Congratulations - you managed to mentally scar our waiter for life!"

"Ah, you loved it really," Hikaru sniggered, before slight annoyance flittered over his face. "Anyway, he was giving you a right dirty look. Prat. Why was he looking at you like that?"

"…Beats me."

"Really." He narrowed his eyes again and tapped the table. "Entertaining interval over. Does his sucked-a-lemon face have anything to do with what's upset you? What you're not talking about? It's not that you have to tell me everything but, I swear-" He paused to scowl. "-It's so frustrating. I don't know what I should do."

"Sorry, Hika."

"Don't say sorry."

There was a pause.

Kaoru fiddled nervously with his cooling coffee mug, tapping his fingers restlessly along the rim as he bit his lip. Half of him desperately wanted to tell his twin everything, just like before, and apologise for not telling him sooner. He wanted the familiarity and comfort of that.

But on the other hand, half of him didn't. Not just because he didn't want to make his brother worry more, but also because he didn't want to try to explain how a wonderful thing had ended when it he still found the details sketchy himself. But then, maybe that was selfish of him. Was it? Was he allowed to be?

Fretting, the youngest redhead deliberated silently and was trying to string together his many thoughts when Hikaru's impatience won out and he stated shortly, "Fine. Don't. Fine."

He sounded a little bit hurt by it and, flustered, Kaoru looked up to hurriedly explain himself when his brother interrupted again, golden eyes watching his face carefully. "Just answer me one thing then. Is it about a girl?"

Kaoru hesitated. "Well… yeah."

This didn't surprise him; though he'd taken a while at first and Haruhi had convinced him to restrain from saying anything, Hikaru wasn't dumb. When your brother disappeared for hours on end and came back beaming and smelling of sugar, then occasionally coming out with random quotes of happy nonsense, it was pretty obvious that someone of the female persuasion was involved.

"Were you in love with her?"

"…" Kaoru's prolonged hesitance and sudden dampened expression, as though a shadow had fallen over his eyes, was answer enough but Hikaru still waited. He wanted him to say it.

Kaoru averted his eyes to his coffee and distractedly began tapping the rim again.

"Maybe…I think so." He paused. "I really think so. But it doesn't…" He paused again, hopelessly thinking back to everything, before adding bracingly, "It doesn't make any difference. Can we talk about something else?"

They lapsed into momentary silence. Brows furrowed agitatedly, Hikaru restlessly took a gulp of his boiling coffee, almost burning his tongue in the process, and scowled at his brother staring into thin air. Or, more specifically, he scowled at fate, or destiny, or whatever the hell it was that decided how life went. _It's not fair_. That was a childish thought, but Hikaru stubbornly felt that he was obliged to have it. Anything bad that happened to his selfless twin just wasn't _fair_.

After one more pause, Hikaru resolutely came to a decision. He took another gulp of boiling coffee, winced as it hit his tongue, dropped some money onto the table and stood up. Kaoru blinked and looked over to find his older brother standing before him and thrusting out a hand. He stared at it for a second and then questioningly peered up at Hikaru's fiery and protective eyes.

"Come on," the older twin ordered firmly. "Let's go back to work. In fact - no - screw work. Let's go for a walk, Kao, you and me. Okay?"

Kaoru paused for another moment before finally beaming up at him. Abandoning his cold coffee, he pushed his chair back, stood up and finally clasped hands gratefully with his twin. Honestly, no one could quite cheer him up like his crude, brash, loving Hikaru.

He squeezed his hand. "That sounds like a brilliant idea. The best."

Hikaru smirked at him. "Obviously. I thought of it."

The skinny blonde waiter walked back into the main café when he heard the door open. He took one look at the exiting twins, hands entwined, expressions of contentment and love on their faces, and walked straight back out again.

* * *

**Look! It's Hikaru in big brother mode! Here to save the day - Kaoru's at least - with his powers of brotherly love! o(^u^)/  
I love big brother Hika. =3 He appears when it matters.**

**Sorry for the delay for this chapter but, again - intense revision going on. My exams start in about two weeks so I won't be able to start the next chapter until after that, but then I'll write lots to make up for it. I've already written one of the last chapters which, amazingly, I quite like. =3=**

**I hope you liked this chapter! The next has the start of the twin's trip and a big dollop of HikaHaru love. =3 (How many chapters has it been since a fluffed-stuffed HikaHaru chapter? Two? Good god D: )**

**Thanks very much for reading and please review!**

**xxx**


	28. Missing you

**Missing you

* * *

**

Generally, it was a feminine thing to fuss about decorating the baby's nursery. Their other half showed an interest of course, but it was common knowledge that shopping for toys and furniture, collecting child-safe accessories and planning out colour schemes for the little one needed a _woman's_ touch.

Which was why Hikaru was cooing over pots of paint while Haruhi sat back and watched.

"Hikaru," Haruhi drawled, shifting on the huge beanbag she was perched on and eyeing her surroundings irritably. "Remind me again why you had to order a pot of every single colour of paint?"

The redhead glanced over at her and grinned. "To design something great, you really need to _see _all those colours before you, you know what I mean?"

"No. It's a waste."

"And that's why I'm chief decorator and you're not."

Haruhi rolled her eyes as Hikaru sniggered and went back to the multicoloured display of paint pots. They had totally stripped Hikaru and Kaoru's old room, from the wallpaper to the wooden flooring, and as it stood bare and empty Haruhi had realised for the first time what a huge, cavernous room it actually was; most of her father's apartment would fit quite snugly inside it. The walls were now pure white, ready to be painted, and huge protective sheets covered the new soft blue carpet completely. The windows were child-locked and, for reasons Haruhi was sure included 'because I can', Hikaru had ordered a whole revamp for the en-suite bathroom.

Against the immensely white backdrop of the room, intensified by the bright light shining in from an arched window, Hikaru stood out like a sore thumb as he sat Indian-style in the middle of the floor, dressed alarmingly casually for someone so intent on his clothes. He was contemplating the tens of pots of paint before him, which looked like a vivid pixel rainbow. Haruhi was seated to one side on an insanely large and ridiculously soft beanbag, watching her husband exasperatedly as her hands lay folded over her precious belly. She had originally insisted that she would help decorate with as much gusto as Hikaru had insisted that he designed. Hikaru however, had actually won the Haruhi-decorating debate because of two words. _Paint fumes_. She'd finally relented and agreed to leave when they started painting, albeit with a stubborn scowl.

Hikaru held up a small square sample of the sky blue carpet up next to a pot of velvety green paint, squinting his eyes as he compared them. "What d'you think, Haru?" he mused, clicking his tongue thoughtfully as he looked over the plain walls. "We could just make it simple, do some block stripes. We could even do a feature wall _there_," he said, waving towards a stretch of wall. "Like a mural or something. We have to consider the furniture layout too… Where shall we put the cots? By the window?"

He paused expectantly and Haruhi suddenly realised that he had stopped talking and was actually waiting for her to give some input. Flustered, as she had been busy practising the valuable art of ignoring (which she did whenever he decided to have an arty rant), Haruhi blinked and muttered vaguely, "…Sure. I agree."

Hikaru eyed her suspiciously, getting a sneaking feeling he'd just been talking to himself, but luckily distraction arrived in the form of Kaoru hip bumping the door open, one arm otherwise preoccupied with holding a stereo while his right hand was balancing a mug of green tea.

"Hello!" he greeted the two jovially, grinning as he placed the silver stereo down by a plug socket before grandly presenting the mug to Haruhi. "I got you some green tea," he said unnecessarily, adding a mocking bow for good measure.

"Thanks Kaoru," Haruhi smiled, amused, before taking the mug from him and happily wrapping her fingers around it, the herbal scented steam swirling around her face.

He winked before straightening up and grinning down at his brother, who had sulkily gone back to glaring at paint pots. "_So_," he said, stuffing his hands into the deep pockets of his jeans and wandering over to him. "Do we have any plans yet? Or are we stuck at the glaring at the paint pots stage?"

Hikaru scowled at his brother's wide smile before giving him a vague run down of his ideas for the colour scheme, occasionally stressing that he wanted to paint something other than blocks.

When they had first talked about finally decorating the babies' nursery a week ago, Kaoru had instantly nominated himself to help with a reawakened vigour that had brightened the whole estate. Haruhi wasn't sure what Hikaru had said to him, but she was glad of it; apart from the occasional brooding moment or forced smile, he now seemed back to his old self. Back to teasing her, back to spending time with them and back to rambling on about the babies with earnest excitement.

It was strange how much you could miss things like that.

The younger twin was currently looking around the room and brushing his soft red hair from his face, pursing his lips in the thoughtful way he did whenever he was linking Hikaru's thoughts together for him. Finally, he mused, "Just an idea, oh chief decorator…"

Hikaru sniffed with mock-loftiness, "That's Sir supreme overlord chief decorator to you."

Kaoru snorted. "No, that's a pain in the ass to me. Anyway." He smirked as he made a general gesture around the room. "If you want to do a mural for them, why don't we do a big one over all the walls? Like a jungle with flowers and animals and things that they can look at. Little kids will like that, right? When they're older we can tell them how Daddy and Uncle Kaoru painted it." He shot a glance at Haruhi, golden eyes twinkling teasingly. "And how Mommy tried her best."

As Haruhi scowled at the crack at her non-existent art skills, Hikaru grinned and announced grandly, "Great idea! The whole room can be one big children's painting. It'll take a while to get it looking good, but they're not coming out for a while."

"Famous last words," Haruhi snorted, vaguely amused at the twins' sudden enthusiasm; they were both now scanning the blank walls with a dangerous spark of sudden inspiration in their eyes, looking like two tigers ready to pounce on something innocent and unsuspecting.

Hikaru shrugged at his wife's words as he grabbed two pencils out of his pockets and casually tossed one to his twin; they both wielded them like swords. "If it's not ready in time, they can always bunk with Kaoru," he reasoned with a quirky grin before he turned to the patch of blank wall between the two arched windows and added something in a mutter to Kaoru about 'focus points'.

Vaguely amused, Haruhi settled back and wrapped her hands snugly around her mug as she watched the two incline their heads to have a hurried, whispered conversation before getting to work. Other people would plan or design such a big project on paper before attacking the wall but no, not the Hitachiin twins. They just went straight to it, their only plans being a few half-baked mutters. Haruhi found herself feeling decidedly useless as she sat and wordlessly watched them work, but really, there was nothing for her to do; drawing wasn't exactly her forte.

Kaoru turned to the stereo on and then, after fiddling with the radio dial until he found a station blasting out music he liked, crouched down to begin happily sketching something. After staring at it for a few seconds, Haruhi realised it was the start of an otherworldly and exotic flower. Hikaru was skimming the pencil lightly over the end wall in long, swooping strokes, slowly forming a lush tree, the braches of which spread over the windows like a canopy.

It was almost funny to see the twins when, like now, inspiration had metaphorically whacked them around the head and now they wanted to get it down as fast as possible. They worked with an energised vigour and Haruhi could practically see the rest of the world shutting off to them as they occasionally muttered undeveloped sentences that no one but the other understood. She believed it was what they called being 'in the zone'. Amused, Haruhi began to notice the subtle differences between them just in the way they sketched their forming ideas. Though both of their pencils moved swiftly and relentlessly, Kaoru worked in smaller, faster strokes, drawing the small details as he came to them, while Hikaru preferred long, swooping lines, accenting the whole outline before he went back to the details.

It carried on contently like that for a while, Hikaru and Kaoru drawing, Haruhi watching and drinking green tea, until the oldest twin suddenly stopped and looked over at his wife spacing out. She had been concentrating on the shifting she could feel from the babies and jumped when Hikaru suddenly spoke up and said eagerly, "Hey, Haru. You should draw something for us to paint too. Just so we've all done something to show them."

She raised her eyebrows sceptically but - for once - he didn't look like he was trying to tease her. He just looked genuinely excited, as though he honestly thought it was a really good idea. Only when she muttered hesitatingly 'I don't think so…' did a devilish glint enter his eyes.

"Aww, come on, Ms. Picasso," he teased, grinning as he trotted over and stubbornly held out another pencil for her (she wondered vaguely how many he had stuffed into his pockets). "We need Mommy's contribution to show baby one and baby two. I'm sure it'll be a masterpiece."

Kaoru's sudden cough sounded suspiciously like a laugh, no doubt thinking back to her disastrous attempts at trying to draw a scary pumpkin in school.

Throwing him a scowl, Haruhi drawled to Hikaru shortly, "No. You know I'm no good at it."

"For the babies? It's not as if you have to paint it too. I swear it'll look fine!"

"I'm not doing it. You're just going to laugh-"

"Promise I won't! Go _on_, Haru-_darling_~"

She gave him a sour look. "Hikaru, it'll look-"

"If you draw something, we can have giant tuna for dinner."

A triumphant smirk spread over Hikaru's lips as Haruhi hesitated at the offer, instantly tempted. He gave her a second before adding, just to clinch the deal, "I'll get something banana-y for pudding too."

She paused and then, scowling, snatched the pencil from his hand.

Hikaru grinned smugly as she turned to the wall and grumbled something vulgar and insulting under her breath - including 'rich bloody bastard' and variations thereof - before he then mockingly patted her sweet little rich commoner head. Of course Haruhi, being the humble girl she was, wouldn't think of - or even feel comfortable with - the fact she could just order the servants about herself to get whatever she wanted. It was one of those cute things that made Haruhi, Haruhi. The ultra commoner.

Haruhi shifted on her beanbag and glared at her piece of wall while Hikaru happily trotted off to his own section. What could she draw? She frowned. Moreover, what could she draw that would actually look like what it was supposed to be? She'd already accepted that, no matter what, it wasn't going to look good… Simply recognisable was a better target…

Sighing, she wearily looked at the other two, who were much more in their element. Kaoru seemed to be in a world of his own and had moved onto his third exotic flower, while Hikaru was accenting in some plump apples for the tree, which, according to a note he'd scrawled beside them, were destined to be royal blue. Slightly annoyed, she glared at Hikaru's head and a wide smirk grew on his lips as though he could tell what she was doing without even looking.

She rolled her eyes as he began sketching with a smug flourish, swaying his hips to the beat of Kaoru's music, and, as she looked at him, Haruhi decided that she was going to draw a cat. She didn't know why, but her mind was suddenly made up. Hikaru glanced innocently over his shoulder and Haruhi scowled at his wide, mocking smirk. Definitely a cat.

Turning her back on him, she leaned a bit closer to the wall and raised her pencil as though about to draw. Now… a cat. How did you draw a cat? She thought hard, perplexed at how Kaoru could instantly draw something as beautiful as those flowers just off the top of his head. How did they do it?

_Well… It needs a head. And pointy ears. Cats have pointy ears._

Haruhi could tell that they were both sneaking a look at her and resolutely refused to acknowledge them, though she couldn't help flushing slightly as she finally touched lead to wall and drew a wobbly circle. It was soon joined by two sharp triangles and a few flicks, as Haruhi tried fruitlessly to make them look like ears. She paused pointedly - just _daring_ either twin to make some stupid, snooty comment - before adding two round eyes, a chubby triangle nose and a cat mouth that looked like a '3' on its side.

'_It… sort of looks like a cat_,' she reasoned weakly to herself, flicking in a few wobbly whiskers before frowning thoughtfully. '_Oh… how do you draw a cat's _body_? Jeeze, this is such a bother._'

She frowned at the twins again but they had gone back to their own work, albeit with small, identical smiles on their faces.

For a while the three drew in wordlessness with just the low music, Haruhi frowning as she tried to make the body not look like a deformed mushroom with spaghetti legs. This drawing lark was harder than it looked.

She was just sketching the squiggly tail and huffing at the fact it was a bit _too_ squiggly, when she suddenly realised that someone was standing behind her, their breath lightly brushing the top of her head as they leaned over to look at her masterpiece. Scowling, she dug her elbow blindly backwards, felt it connect with his knee and drawled, "What are you looking at?"

Hikaru sniggered. "Just carrying out my designer duties and checking up," he explained with mock innocence, grinning as he dropped himself next to her on the large bean bag and snugly wrapped his arms around her waist.

Then, after kissing her temple, he stared at her drawing. Just stared.

"It's a cat," she drawled gruffly, just in case he couldn't tell, as he was looking down at it with a very odd expression.

He finally smiled. "I can see that," he sniggered. There was a pause before he adding teasingly, feeling it was expected of him, "Those razor-sharp, dagger-like ears give it away. They're dangerous, they are."

As Haruhi scowled, Hikaru continued to regard the wobbly cat for a few long moments with that strange expression on his face, a sort of goofy half smile, before he said warmly, "You should draw a tanuki too."

He caught her eye and sniggered before pointing at the cat and insisting, "No, look. The cat can be me." His finger moved onto the space next to it. "The tanuki can go there and that can be you." His finger moved again. "And there, there you can draw the feline-racoon-dog mutants. And they will be our children."

Haruhi snorted, unable to help an amused smile tweaking her lips, and then glanced up at him exasperatedly. "Our children will be freaks of nature. Wonderful," she drawled sarcastically, one hand instinctively rising to rest on her bulging belly, to which he sniggered again.

"The most adorable freaks of nature the world has ever seen," he insisted with a grin, tightening his hold around her and shifting so he could lean down to brush his lips fondly against hers.

The gesture was sweet and innocent but, to her own surprise, Haruhi found that for once she was the one to ruin it. As their lips touched and that familiar warm spark ran down her spine, there was a sharp, painful prang in her chest and she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and then, out of nowhere, kissed him full on the mouth. If Hikaru was surprised by this he recovered quickly, allowing himself a grin before he lifted a hand to cup her face and happily lent into the abrupt emotion, deepening the kiss.

The fact that her husband was going away for a week had struck Haruhi then and, though she'd been constantly swearing that she didn't care if it was only for that long, she finally admitted to herself that she really was going to miss him. It had been easy to shrug off and block from her mind before, but now the swift rush of heat seemed to have melted that particular defence away.

It didn't matter that it was only a week, that it was something she'd have to get used to, that his voice was only a phone call away. It didn't matter that he was a complete and utter pain in the neck.

She was going to miss him so damn much.

It was the pregnancy hormones, Haruhi decided as she tightened her arms around him, that was making her so completely and abruptly upset. That was the only explanation.

Kaoru chose then to pause in his artistic sketching and glance over at the pair of them, still entwined. While a few weeks ago he might have smirked and made some mocking comment, now he just hurriedly looked away again, pressing his lips into a firm line. For a few moments, he just stared blankly at the wall, before discreetly turning up the stereo and slowly raising his pencil to it again.

* * *

**First day of work provoked fluff deprivation.**

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** Hey, darling. Just arrived in Paris, already dead bored with all these snobby big cheese types. :/ Only entertaining thing is Kaoru trying to do a French accent. The city's pretty though, I'll send you a picture if you like xx

**To:** Hikaru**  
From:** Haruhi**  
Message:** …Kaoru can do a French accent?

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** Haha, he can TRY to do one. XD

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Kaoru**  
Message:** Don't listen to him Haruhi! My French accent is amazing!

**To:** Kaoru**  
From:** Haruhi  
**Message:** I'm sure it is, Kaoru.

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** xDxD It's hilarious. He keeps squeaking and adding 'oui?' to every sentence. He's scaring the locals.

**To:** Hikaru  
**From:** Haruhi  
**Message:** I think I've heard that accent before… I thought he'd swallowed some chilli sauce or something.

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** xDxDxD

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Kaoru**  
Message:** D: I'm offended, Haruhi. Truly. Q.Q Just jealous.

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** Sorry, darling, got to go, phone you later x

**To:** Hikaru  
**From:** Haruhi**  
Message:** Okay. I love you.

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** :3 Love you too xx

* * *

**Third day of work provoked fluff deprivation.**

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** How are my babies today~? X

**To:** Hikaru**  
From:** Haruhi**  
Message:** Moving a lot. Kicked Tamaki and he almost had a heart attack. My ears are still ringing.

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** Haha xD It's because they miss me! 8D

**To:** Hikaru**  
From:** Haruhi**  
Message:** …How can they miss you? They're not born.

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** D: Quit being so unromantic Haruhi! Jeeze!

**To:** Hikaru**  
From:** Haruhi**  
Message:** Maybe they miss the muffled drone of your voice.

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** I don't drone! D:{

**To:** Hikaru**  
From:** Haruhi**  
Message:** How is work?

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** -.- Gee, I hope they don't inherit your amazing subtly, Haruhi. However will we know when they want to change the subject?

**To:** Hikaru**  
From:** Haruhi**  
Message:** Whatever. I'm going to have a bath.

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** Wish I could have one with you~~~!x

**To:** Hikaru  
**From:** Haruhi**  
Message:** Go back to work Hikaru!

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** xDxDxD

* * *

**Fifth day of work provoked fluff deprivation.**

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message: **God, I'm so bored. :/ On the plane to London with nothing to do. Kaoru's asleep. -.- Maybe I'll throw grapes at him for entertainment. What chu up to, Haru? X

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message: **Haruhi?

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message: **Haru-darling?

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message: **Hello?

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message: **Don't ignore me!

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message: **Oh my God, did you die of me-deprivation?

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message: **…I was only kidding, Haru.

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message: **Don't be mad. Ignoring is bad for the soul.

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message: **…

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message: **Hellloooooo?

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message: **Talk to meeeeeee!

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** I've been kidnapped!

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message: **By space pirates!

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** Only by texting me can I be saved!

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** … You're still ignoring me? Really? You're so mean. D:

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** Haruuuuuuuuuu

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** I love you xxxxxxxxxxx

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** Now I'm dyingggggggg~~

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** Dead. X_x

**To:** Hikaru**  
From:** Haruhi**  
Message:** Ah, sorry Hikaru. I lost my phone. Any way you can compress the last 19 messages of one-sided conversation into one? I can't be bothered to read it all.

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** D: ? ! It's not like you have anything else to do!

**To:** Hikaru  
**From:** Haruhi**  
Message:** …

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** Sorry, darling. That was mean of me. xxxx

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** …Haruhi?

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** Haru?

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru**  
Message:** Oh come on!

* * *

**Sixth day of work provoked fluff deprivation.**

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** Sorry Haru, really busy today, no time to text. Love you! Hope you and babies are okay xxx

**To:** Hikaru**  
From:** Haruhi**  
Message:** We're fine.

**To:** Haruhi**  
From:** Hikaru  
**Message:** I'll phone later. Really sorry! xxx

**To:** Hikaru**  
From:** Haruhi**  
Message:** No problem.

Hikaru's brows furrowed as he reread that day's measly texts and sighed grumpily to himself. Being away from Haruhi was so frustrating. She was apathetic anyway, but when it came to texting and phone calls she became so… _Mori-ish. _It was driving him mad.

And it wasn't the only thing. Pouting sulkily and stuffing his mobile away, Hikaru cast a dark look about him.

He was at a high society soirée, rubbing shoulders with all of London's fashionable elites, which was all well and good if it wasn't the forth such party he'd been to this week. They were beginning to wear on his short and temperamental nerves, which were already in a fizz about being away from his wife and children. He and Haruhi hadn't spent more than a day apart since before their engagement; he took that fact for granted and hadn't really realised it until the separation was forced, but now his lack of Haruhi was dragging his spirit down like an anchor.

He took a sip of his thousand pound champagne and levelled his eyes to the rim of the glass as he did, so he could look grumpily at his surroundings. The party was being held in the ballroom of a luxury hotel, which both Hikaru and Kaoru had booked rooms into. The hall's roof was high and lavishly arched, and bundles of bullion coloured silk cascaded around the tall windows like liquid gold. The entire room seemed to be glittering dully like an undersea cavern, as light reflected off elaborate decorations and the many diamonds worn by the socialising assembly. Waiters milled through the crowds with stoic and formal airs, balancing silver platters of champagne glasses full of that bubbly indulgence, their polished black shoes making no noise as they trotted over the mahogany floor. Bursts of flowers bloomed here and there and tinted the atmosphere with a sweet scent that mixed in with the champagne.

Hikaru had spend the evening talking to every single family present, always dancing around the edge of both real business and scandalous gossip, never quite getting to the point but dragging the conversation on anyway. The concentration it took to keep up the English fluency gave him a headache; it had been worse in France when a translator had to shadow him. He'd finally decided that his restless temperament couldn't take anymore and, after stretching his lips into one last insincere smile, had excused himself with the flimsy reason of wanting a drink. He had to hand it to Kaoru who, despite scowling at him when he escaped, was still holding the up the flag for team Hitachiin and was currently laughing at something a man had said that probably wasn't remotely funny at all.

If it hadn't been for Kaoru, Hikaru felt he would have gone mad out of boredom. He knew he had to get used to trips like this, but it was amazing just how much it sucked. The only good part about it was spending some time alone in the evenings with his twin, but even that had been taken away from him yesterday. He'd caught Kaoru looking at some silvery grey material when they were in a studio and for some reason, Kaoru had spent the rest of the day oddly subdued, quiet and going to bed early.

Hikaru sighed as he glanced across the hall at his little brother who was chatting away as though he hadn't a care in the world. Knowing better, Hikaru's brow furrowed and his eyes darkened as he watched him and lost himself in his moody thoughts.

Then suddenly he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and realised, with an inward sulk, that someone was coming towards him again. Putting his acting skills to good use, he rearranged his expression into one of polite interest as he glanced around, though as his eyes locked upon the figure he let the formality fall with a sigh of relief. Finally, someone other than Kaoru who he didn't have to put on fake airs for.

"God," he sighed tiredly, letting his shoulders slump again as the person reached him. "Am I glad it's you."

Leiko smiled. "You are?" the hair designer laughed lightly, smoky eyes glinting.

Red seemed to be her signature colour tonight as she was swathed in it completely. Her grown was a scarlet silk fishtail dress that left too little to the imagination and a gorgeous display of rubies settled over her collarbone. Her neck was bare as the black tresses of her hair had been pinned into a flaring bun that framed her face dramatically.

"Yeah," Hikaru sighed, casting a lazy glance over her appearance before turning his head back to the crowds. "I thought you might be one of those bloodsucking demon suits trying to get me to sell my soul."

He glared pointedly at a small cluster of men across the room and, after laughing on cue, Leiko followed his gaze with her dark eyes. She instantly recognised one of the men, one with jet-black hair streaked with grey and a look about him remarkably similar to herself, and a certain look of delight entered her eyes.

"Yes, I hate those types," she agreed with a little more sneer than she intended. After a pause she quickly laughed lowly again and added in an almost suggestive tone, "Besides. It's not your soul that I want."

Wearily amused, Hikaru gave her a sidelong glance. "Oh? What do you want then?"

She smiled wider.

"Just your company."

"Well, my company is very desirable." He allowed himself to preen with a smirk, bored enough to indulge in the compliment. "I'm just amazing like that."

Something strange entered Leiko's eyes before she responded. Their calculating, ebony depths seemed to warm as she looked her business associate up and down, the pure genuineness seeming odd buried in her usually lofty eyes. After a few moments she agreed quietly, "Indeed you are."

Oblivious as always to anything more subtle than a club to the head, Hikaru grinned cockily and continued to scan the crowd, now looking for Kaoru. Before he could catch sight of his twin however, he suddenly became aware that Leiko had moved closer to him with an intense look on her face, one that seemed to cut them off from everyone else and demand confidentiality. He looked at her carefully, a small frown beginning to pluck at his lips, but before it materialised she carried on speaking, with words utterly contradictory to her expression.

"So," she started, her voice light, "How has your week been? I heard you were in Paris before London. I've just arrived here myself today."

"It's been bloody boring," he drawled bluntly, unable to find the need to dredge up any formality whatsoever when it came to Leiko. It wasn't as if she wanted formality anyway, and indeed her lips twitched in real amusement as he insulted practically everyone who had accompanied him that week. She seemed to enjoy his brutal honesty about the elites that crowded their world. After thinking for a second, Hikaru sighed and added in equal honesty, "I miss Haruhi. I wish she was here too."

Something ugly and irritable passed over Leiko's sensuous face the moment Haruhi's name was mentioned. Hikaru caught the look out of the corner of his eye and mildly raised an eyebrow as she all but sneered, "You… miss your commoner when socialising in one of the most glamorous hotels in the world? You are strange, Hikaru."

It was the most insulting thing she had let slip through her act to Hikaru's face and as she forced a laugh irritation passed over his features. Though her tone was casual as she changed the subject and moved onto what she had been doing today, the conversation had turned sour to Hikaru. She missed the annoyance and offence darkening his eyes as he watched her, watched her move ever closer, and similarly she missed the devilish gleam in his eyes as something occurred to him. The sudden look in his eyes was one that never boded well and was one Haruhi knew meant he had found a way to ease his boredom in the worse way possible, the way that teased temptation.

It was hard, he felt, to be responsible and mature when neither Kaoru nor Haruhi was there.

Leiko had asked him a question but he didn't hear it; instead he ducked his head so it was so close to hers that he could smell the heady scent of her perfume but far enough away that he didn't cause a stir with the stuffed-shirts around them.

"When you say that you enjoy my company…" he muttered, smirking and watching her eyes. "What type of company do you mean?"

For a moment, Leiko just stared at him. Then she saw something in his eyes which spoke volumes to her and a sense of smug satisfaction made her heavily lashed eyes shine wickedly bright. "The type that's very, very close," she breathed in response, the corners of her full lips twitching upwards. She paused to reassure herself of her own allure and the certain glint in Hikaru's golden eyes before adding lightly, "I've never stayed at this hotel before. Would you give me a tour?"

What she actually meant was obvious.

Hikaru looked at her. He was silent for several long minutes without answering but when he did, it was with a grin and all came out in a rush, "Yeah, all right."

Her moist red lips stretched into a smile at his answer and her eyes shadowed seductively. Her manicured fingers slowly curled around his wrist like a handcuff, long scarlet nails glinting in the glittering light. Then she asked the open question that would, in her mind, remove all doubt and land her in many places, one of which would be the position of being very, very rich.

"What about your wife?"

Leiko watched his expressive eyes greedily as some quick calculations ran through them and electricity she associated with giving into temptation illuminated them. He glanced around the dazzling hall swiftly, reassured himself that Kaoru was busy with some business partners and then turned his head back to her.

Hikaru smirked. "What wife?"

* * *

**8D**

**Good news, everyone! My exams are over! My nights of idleness aren't being eaten by revision anymore! Woop woop! 8D I can now devote some time to writing, so the next chapter shall be written sooner than this one. Thank you for sticking with me.**

**I don't want to say too much about this chapter, in fear of giving something away, but, because such a mean cliffhanger isn't fair, I'll let you know what you all must be desperate to know.**

**Yes, Haruhi's cat will be painted orange. I know you were wondering.**

**;)**

**Please review!**

**xxx**

**P.S. I've finally written one hundred thousand words for this story. That's insane O.o I never thought it'd be this long, haha. Thank you for reading so much!;;**

**... I wonder how much is just author's notes...?;;  
**


	29. Sherry and Whine

**Sherry and Whine

* * *

**

"Sherry?"

"Sure."

The lights sparkled and danced across the crystal bottle as Hikaru Hitachiin casually pulled out the stopper and poured the amber liquid into two matching glasses. Passing one over to his companion with a smirk curling his lips, he settled down in a dark mahogany chair, cushioned with passionate red, and motioned to a copy of it beside him. Leiko Kokubo slowly lowered herself into it and wet her lips with the drink. Their chairs were astride a carved one-legged table and she delicately placed her bare arm across it as her greedy eyes regarded his hotel room.

It was a handsome room, one they bestowed on their more prestigious guests, full of details of sensuous scarlet. As per requested, it was only one room apart from the bathroom and walk-in wardrobe, and while one half was dominated by a huge four-poster bed, the other consisted of a desk and some beautifully carved chairs at which they were seated. Hikaru's blazer and tie were hanging on the back of his chair, where they had hung since they'd arrived, so he now sat comfortably in rumpled shirt and open waistcoat. The dull, warm light made Leiko's skin seem to flush beautifully against the deep red of her dress as she sat beside him, eyes darting around them.

"It's a beautiful room," she pointed out with a low undertone of longing, tilting her body towards him as she spoke.

Hikaru shrugged. "Suppose."

Leiko's ebony eyes took in every expensive, luxurious detail, from the golden trimmed curtains to the rich silk sheets, and then her gaze drifted over to her companion. Hikaru was holding his sherry glass to his lips, expression vague and bored. She took in his beautiful golden eyes, shadowed by his vivid red hair, and let her gaze drift to his lips and back again, and then to his tailored suit that showed off his obviously substantial amount of money. He was perfect. Aside from his irritating brother. She had been with other men before, but none had caused her mind to obsess quite like this one. He was like a disease. It was odd for her to feel like this, as she was used to being the one who diseased others to claw her way past her damn family, but it just fuelled the fire of her determination.

"Hikaru."

His eyes flickered over to her as she placed her glass down with a _clink_. After quickly glancing for reassurance at her reflection in the amber liquid, she moved her hand across the cool wooden surface to brush against his and looked into his face. It was mostly expressionless, though after a few minutes his lips curled into a smirk and his eyes glinted teasingly. She swore she could see real gold in those eyes. Gold and diamonds and money, winking and sparkling at her.

"You were saying about my wonderful company?" he prompted, his tone low, looking more devilish than ever. The goading light in his intense eyes gave her confidence and when she smirked back, it was with a certain amount of arrogance. This was it.

She swept over to him and bowed her head, her swiftness betraying her greed. One hand hovered tantalisingly over the surface of his fiery hair before she leant forward, closing her seductive eyes as she imagined his lips. The thrill of it was making her heart beat hard. Hikaru's smirk widened and he tilted his head upwards to meet her-

And then he caught her chin between his thumb and finger and burst out laughing.

Leiko instantly jolted to a stop, her eyes flying open to stare at him, wide-eyed and stunned as he cackled like he had seen the funniest thing in the world. Bewildered and startled, her frozen lips began to flutter. "Wh- Hikaru, what… are you-?"

But her stunned words were cut off.

"Seriously?" Hikaru cackled with a grin, molten eyes shining wickedly bright as he looked up at her, like a devil in the midst of messing with someone's head. "Seriously," he repeated, "did you honestly think I'd really do it? Do anything with you when I have Haruhi?" He tilted his head, smirking with an almost cruel pleasure as he brought her face closer to his. "You must be gullible or just plain thick."

She finally jerked her chin out of his grip, rearing back. For a second she simply stared at him in complete shock, unable to comprehend the situation, one she had never anticipated, until finally all the blood rushed to her face and she burst, mortified, "You-! You were just-!"

"Messing with you because you're a scheming little bitch?" He smiled wickedly at her, leaning back in his seat in a cocky, self-assured stance. "Pretty much, yeah. You were entertaining at first-"

She couldn't believe her ears. "Enter- _entertaining_?"

"-But then, who doesn't enjoy being fawned over a bit? I even sort of liked you. I was happy to take you with a heap of salt until you ruined it tonight." There he paused, his eyes hardening in irritation as he stared at her and though he hadn't moved, she suddenly felt as if his sneer was mere inches from her face. "You take it too far. When have you ever heard me say I was somehow not happy with Haruhi? I love her. What made your stupid little mind think that I'd trade her for you? The world's full of short-sighted people like you," he sneered, some past emotion bringing a new edge to his tone, "and it makes me sick. You're ten-a-penny."

That last comment seemed to make something in her snap and, with a furious hiss, she glared down at the man she was coming to feel something for and growled, "How _dare _you? You- You take me to your room just to _humiliate_ me-" He had started laughing again. Her hand twitched but, though part of her desperately wanted to slap it around his face, it was stopped by something - a boiling, greedy emotion, suddenly so wrong and so loathed. So instead, Leiko just glowered darkly, swore and hissed, "You're twisted. You call me ten-a-penny when you yourself are married to a piece of common muck? Just a piece of trash-!"

Her voice broke as Hikaru's face creased into a loathing scowl and his shoulders suddenly tensed, as though he was tempted to jump up right into her face. He only restrained himself from flying out of his chair and losing it completely because of a determination to keep the upper hand, though her insult set his blood steaming and spitting furiously. There were two people in Hikaru Hitachiin's life that you _never_ snubbed to his face.

"Never talk about her again. You'd never find Haruhi pathetically throwing herself at my feet. Not once in your life have you ever mounted up to half of her. And," he added before she could interrupt, curling his lip into a nasty sneer, "I'm the proof, aren't I? Because I, the man you _wanted_, would chose her a million times over you. Just take a browse through your many foul defects. I'm sure you can find a few choice reasons."

Hikaru watched in amusement as outrage instantly flared from her eyes; it was strange how simple words could effect people so hideously. Her blood red lips curled in anger, strands of raven hair fell about her glaring pupils and a humiliated flush stained her face like ink. All of a sudden, she looked quite mad.

"My father," she hissed at him, clenching her fists. "I'll tell him about this. We'll cut all ties to your company and we'll be sure to drag your name through the mud. We'll-!"

"Oh, don't be stupid," he drawled, giving her a disdainful look. "Like your company would risk a connection with _us_ just because of your pettiness. I'm practically gold dust to a little company like the Kokubos," he announced cockily, before an evilly mocking glint entered his eyes and a smirk curled his lips. "Besides," he added, "I doubt your father would even _listen_ to you."

She froze and his smirk widened even more, until he looked like a tiger that had somehow gotten hold of a gun and was pointing it at it's hunter's head.

"You should never make a partnership without doing a little digging," he carried on, enjoying the shocked expression on her face, "That's basic. And, what with two _much more _competent siblings, you're barely hanging in there, aren't you? What was I, a lifeline to the snooty world you obsess with or a prize to show off to _Daddy_?"

She was practically shaking with anger now, face harsh and flushed. "You… you bastard."

"Guilty as charged," he admitted with a slight shrug. "I tend to get like that if you insult my Haruhi."

She narrowed her pitch black eyes and repeated, in a mocking sneer, "_Your Haruhi_…Listen to yourself."

He smirked wickedly and was about to retort back with some cocky comment about how it was hard not to listen to a great voice such as his, but Leiko had already turned her back on him with a furious flick of the hair. She stormed off towards the door, red dress swishing behind her, huffing out of compressed fury, and hurriedly snatched at the handle. But as she twisted it and yanked the door open, she was greeted with, not an empty corridor, but the face of Kaoru Hitachiin blinking back at her, one hand still raised to knock.

Hikaru's sneer fell away to be replaced with genuine surprise as he stared at his dear twin, who seemed to be frozen in the doorway. "Ah, Kao-?"

But it was too late.

Leiko huffed up at the sight of the slightly more innocent twin who had vexed her and seen through her act from the beginning, her heavily pent-up frustration and fury making her eyes blaze with accusation as she wildly decided who was to blame. Of course, this disaster wasn't _her_ fault. It had to be _his_. He must have said something to his brother. He'd had it in for her the moment they'd met. Kaoru barely had time to blink before she sharply raised a hand.

_**Slap.**_

"_Oi_!" Hikaru yelled, snapping and leaping out of his chair, but Leiko had already shoved past the younger twin and fled down the corridor, full of bitter tears.

Kaoru lifted a hand slowly to his red cheek, looking completely stunned. It was only when Hikaru had ran up to him and growled 'Are you okay?' that he pouted dramatically, looking like a kicked puppy. "This just isn't my day," he whined, feeling decisively picked on. He sheepishly rubbed his left cheek, which was now a blazing red and stinging quite a bit, and spared a glance towards the corridor. "What did I do?" he complained sulkily.

"Nothing. The bitch," Hikaru grumbled darkly, eyeing Leiko's wake fleetingly with a look of newly undiluted loathing before kicking the door shut on her.

The older twin then raised a hand to cup his brother's cheek and gently brushed a thumb over the sore-looking mark on his face. You just had to look at his expression to see he wasn't teasing or playing up the old twincest act for a laugh; his small worried frown and the wild concern in his golden eyes were utterly genuine and Kaoru didn't comment on them. In fact he almost smiled at it, stupidly pleased that his big brother was still so protective about anything happening to him.

But then the raw slap on his face throbbed and he stopped smiling and winced instead. "What's going on? What did you say to her?" he demanded suspiciously.

Hikaru shrugged and, after a last uneasy look, let his hand fall from Kaoru's face. "The truth," he drawled plainly, musing irritably that he would have told her a bit more _truth _if he'd known she was going to slap his beloved twin around the face.

Kaoru narrowed his eyes. "The truth," he probed, pausing dramatically before continuing, "or the _truth_?"

Hikaru grinned toothily. "The_ truth_."

Suddenly getting a very clear idea of what had happened, Kaoru rolled his eyes at how chuffed Hikaru looked with himself and sighed. Part of him felt like chiding him about being too harsh like he might have done otherwise but, in this case, another part of him - possibly the part closest to his cheek which _still totally hurt by the way_ - just decided to leave it. If anyone had it coming to them, it was the witch.

The twins had always been fairly mean when they were younger, before they met the host club and grew a conscience; school wasn't school unless they had made someone cry. It was their way of getting back at the world that refused to understand them and it seemed Hikaru had fallen into that childish and twisted temptation of messing with someone's head to get back at them. Kaoru could only assume that he'd had enough of Leiko's obvious attempts at breaking him and Haruhi up. He couldn't blame him really but, then again, he was incredibly biased.

So instead of telling him off, Kaoru just commented mildly, "People always seem to get so upset when told the _truth_."

"They do. People are so touchy," Hikaru sniggered, eyes twinkling devilishly though the remnants of his prior annoyance were still apparent in his voice. He regarded his brother for a second before adding in an apologetic tone, "I've got a mini bar in here; do you want a drink? I just opened some sherry and there's a load of other bottles I haven't even looked at yet."

"How exciting," Kaoru snorted, lips twitching. "A sherry's fine."

As Hikaru nodded and happily trotted off to get the expensive sherry bottle and two clean crystal glasses, Kaoru stood uncertainly in the middle of the floor and let his gaze wander hesitatingly over the burgundy and mahogany room, eyes persisting over Leiko's abandoned drink, the beautiful glass seeming to sparkle mockingly in the dim light. But before he could voice the thought lingering in the back of his mind, Hikaru had wandered back with his drink and asked curiously, "Why did you come up here anyway, Kao? Isn't the party still going on?"

"It's starting to disperse," he admitted with a shrug, taking a small sip of the amber-coloured liquid. "I just managed to detach myself from that clingy, fast-talking guy - you know, the one with brown shoes and white socks - don't know what he was thinking - and then I saw you'd disappeared somewhere. So I decided to escape as well." He paused before adding pointedly, "I… didn't expect Leiko to be in your hotel room."

Hikaru snorted. "Yeah. She was trying to seduce me," he explained, looking amused. He suddenly caught Kaoru's eye and frowned before hurriedly adding, "She might've been in my room but I didn't actually _do_ anything with her. I just wanted to make her stop belittling my Haruhi." He huffed at his twin's expression, looking a bit offended. "What, you don't think I'd ever actually cheat on her, do you?" he demanded, pouting.

It wasn't something Kaoru even had to think about and indeed the firm answer 'no, I don't' instantly tumbled out of his mouth. And he didn't. Hikaru was jealous and possessive and Kaoru believed those qualities came hand-in-hand with his select but immense loyalty. He'd act like a prat but he'd never cheat on the woman he'd promised his life to for as long as he lived. Kaoru felt that it was one of the most wonderful, though mainly unseen, things about his brother.

"Sorry," he apologised, patting Hikaru's shoulder briefly before dropping down heavily on the fluffy red plane of the king-sized bed. "I know you wouldn't. It was just weird, opening your door and seeing her staring at me. More scary than weird actually."

Hikaru sulked for another few seconds before finally letting it go and muttering with the ghost of a smirk, "She _is _pretty scary. But the type of scary that's fun to poke with a stick. Like a big dog on a tiny chain."

As Kaoru laughed, Hikaru fell down next to him on the bed, their shoulders bumping, and propped a leg up before taking a deep drink from his glass, letting the bottle lean against his leg. After Hikaru questioned Kaoru's cheek again and the younger confirmed that he'd live, they lapsed into companionable silence, leaning against each other slightly, both lost in their own thoughts.

At length Hikaru broke the silence with a dramatic groan. Kaoru raised an eyebrow at him as he pouted and complained, "I can't be bothered for tomorrow. I want to go home already. What are we doing tomorrow?"

An amused smile plucking at his lips, Kaoru thought for a second before answering, "We have to attend that fashion show. And a dinner. Then we're going home, I think." As Hikaru grinned and announced 'cool!', a thought occurred to the younger twin and he shot his brother a sidelong glance before asking, purposefully casual, "Say, Hika. When's Haruhi due? About two months to go isn't it?"

"A bit less," he corrected. An odd look passed over his face at the topic and he distractedly began to fiddle with his glass. "The twins should be born at the start of April."

Kaoru smiled softly and tilted his head so he could look at Hikaru's nervously working face. He nudged him with his shoulder. "How you feeling about it?"

"Um." Hikaru tittered nervously and shot his brother a look before trying to struggle with the words. "It's like… complicated. I feel really happy and excited and I can't wait to hold them. But then… I also feel like I really, _really _need a drink."

As if to demonstrate this, he drained the last of his sherry and immediately poured himself another as Kaoru laughed quietly. Grinning and pointedly holding out his own glass, Kaoru admitted, "I'm excited. My little nieces or nephews. I want to spoil them rotten." He regarded his still fidgeting brother for a second before adding reassuringly, "Hika, I know we haven't exactly been around a lot of little kids but I think a lot of it comes naturally. Believe it or not, you can be very caring when you really want to." Hikaru frowned at this and Kaoru grinned wider. "I think you'll be just fine," he concluded.

Hikaru thought on this for a few silent minutes before he suddenly beamed with reawakened vigour and raised his glass. "I hope so, Kao. Anyway! Let's have a toast! To-! …Uh…"

He stumbled, realising he hadn't actually planned what to say, so Kaoru quickly came to his rescue. "To us," he announced, smiling fondly at his twin. "To us, Haruhi and all future Hitachiins. May they torture Suohs for generations to come."

"Hear, hear," Hikaru cackled.

Their glasses clinked merrily together.

Feeling safe in their assumption that little concentration or effort would be needed for tomorrow, the two quickly worked their way through the whole bottle before hunting out the rest of the mini bar and happily filling and refilling their glasses, all disdainful thoughts of Leiko completely forgotten. They began to talk with ever more extravagant hand gestures and ever more slurred words as they took odd, paranoid and just plain daft topics with the utmost seriousness, gradually making less and less sense and becoming more and more affectionate. It luckily never occurred to them to actually leave the room as they paced around, chattered relentlessly and occasionally hugged each other with exclamations of love.

At length they were both slumped at the end of the luxury bed, Hikaru staring vacantly at a spot on the ceiling and wondering about the meaning of tofu while Kaoru hugged a glass and glowered at his toes.

"Y'know, 'ika," Kaoru slurred, frowning with drunken concentration and elbowing his twin. "We really are _ext'emely_ indenticals. Like…" He paused and then motioned to his bare feet (they had recently hid their socks and shoes in the bath tub because you never know). "Like if I took my foo' off, 'ow would we know whose foo' it was?"

Hikaru frowned, stumped. "I… don't know…" he admitted slowly, wondering whether this was a serious problem. "'Ave you ever took your foot off?"

"No. I dun think we should try," Kaoru advised seriously, looking grave as he wiggled his toes experimentally. "It coul' 'ave…" He waved a arm dramatically. "…_disastrous consequences_."

"In'eed," Hikaru answered, just as gravely, before wagging a finger wisely and almost poking his twin in the eye. "See, 'at's why you're d'older brother."

Kaoru smiled smugly to himself for several moments, before frowning and pointing out slowly, "But… M'not."

"Oh. Yeah. 'At's why _I'm_ d'older brother then."

"Ah…"

They smiled dopily to each other, feeling that all was right in the world once again.

After a few moments, Hikaru realised that his eyes were drooping and he could barely keep his head up. After a few more moments, Hikaru concluded that he was about ten seconds from falling into a drunken sleep. After even more moments, Hikaru decided that he didn't really want to sleep on the floor.

Nodding wisely to himself, he spent a couple of minutes kicking his legs while Kaoru watched in interest before he managed to scramble up and grin in triumph. Then, with a satisfied '_Mmm…_' he collapsed spread-eagled on the bed and was out before his head hit the duvet. His foot was sticking out by Kaoru's head and Kaoru frowned at it for a few seconds before coming to two conclusions. One, it really was very identical to his foot so they should be careful not to mix them up. Two, his brother's left foot wasn't very good company.

So, with a hiccup and still cradling the glass to his chest, he scrambled up and crawled onto the bed next to Hikaru, curling up and using his unconscious twin's stomach as a pillow. He muttered dopily to Hikaru for a time, about everything from brown shoes to white socks to stars to Mari to cheese and onion rolls masquerading as sausage rolls.

After a while his words began to trail off and he too fell deep asleep.

* * *

The next day passed in an impatient blur and a headache.

Unprofessionally, they both dozed through the fashion show and, if it wasn't for their assistant's notes on the event and several tablets for their pounding heads, they would have fell flat on their faces in the after-show dinner. Both twins were immensely relieved when they finally stepped onto the high-tech splendour of their private jet, ready for the long flight home.

"Get me aspirin, ice and something smothered in chocolate," Hikaru ordered the moment he got inside before collapsing heavily on one of the luxury leather chairs.

Kaoru copied his example and stretched out wearily like a cat. "There aren't any workers here, Hikaru," he pointed out once he'd settled down, closing his eyes.

He smirked. "I know."

"…Get it yourself, you lazy git."

Hikaru snorted at the thought, and it was a good half an hour before either of them found the motivation to move - at which point they did indeed have something smothered in chocolate, because what self-respecting jet doesn't have a chocolate fountain? They dozed for a bit before landing and by the time their car was pulling into the drive of the Hitachiin estate they weren't exactly feeling refreshed, but they were definitely feeling a bit better.

As Hikaru walked into the entry hall of Hitachiin estate again he looked around eagerly, just to deflate a second later; no cute and round Haruhi was there to greet him, just a short line of bowing maids who chanted primly 'Welcome home sirs'.

Pouting despite himself, he held out his coat and satchel, which two maids instantly trotted forward to grab, and whined obnoxiously to Kaoru, "You know, people might think that Haruhi would be here to greet me after a week apart. But _no_, I'm going to have to hunt for her and probably be forced to drag a 'welcome home' out of her with a recording of Tamaki's voice as a torture device." He stuck his bottom lip out even more and sighed melodramatically. "She's so mean."

Kaoru sniggered but before he could reply, the maid he had been passing his coat to spoke up timidly; she was a lean, bushy-haired girl and from her uncertain attitude was quite obviously new. "Ah… I'm sorry, sir but… I've just seen Mrs. Hitachiin in the kitchen, sir."

Hikaru blinked at her, his brow furrowed in confusion. "The… kitchen?" he parroted slowly.

"Y-yes, sir," the girl confirmed, flushing, though as she felt her employee's eyes still upon her she hurriedly added, "The- the second kitchen, sir…" Her voice threatened to squeak so much that Kaoru quickly dismissed her with a mutter of thanks, in fear for her obviously delicate nerves.

Blushing, she quickly bowed and trotted off to put away their coats, leaving Hikaru frowning bewilderedly. "Kitchen," he repeated again, before looking at his twin who was now smiling knowingly. "Why's she in the kitchen? I expected the library…"

Kaoru rolled his eyes. "Beats me, Sherlock," he teased, but before Hikaru could retort back he made a show of yawning and added, "Anyway, I think I'm going to bed. Travelling wore me out. See you in the morning, Hikaru."

"Yeah… G'night."

As Kaoru skipped off to get some sleep (not that he would get any; their mother was about three minutes away from phoning him and demanding a detailed account of their entire trip), Hikaru stuffed his hands into his blazer pockets and began the walk to the second kitchen. They had two kitchens in the estate; one larger one for dinners, parties, that sort of thing, and another smaller one for more casual use. Needless to say, Haruhi much preferred the more compact kitchen.

The second kitchen was at the middle of a naturally lit corridor which was, being evening, currently dim and shadowy so Hikaru could see the warm glow emitting from the open doorway as he started towards it. Then the smell hit him. Something herby and tangy and wholesome, which made a sudden grin of realisation grace his face. Eager now, he walked faster, his footsteps echoing against the walls, breathing in deeply. Could it be… something… _Italian_? He was smiling dopily to himself as he neared the kitchen and the subtle warmth that came with cooking pillowed against his face. There was no time to enjoy the hominess of it however, because he then reached the doorway and, with one arm leaning against the frame, he happily looked inside.

The kitchen was rectangular in shape and while the main one was steel-lined, all clinical and professional, this had a much more homey feel to it with its spring bud green walls and lush wooden surfaces. Used pots and saucepans were piled into the sink, smeared with tomato purée, and packets and tubs of ingredients still stood in a higgledy-piggledy cluster on the side. The oven was glowing a steady and inviting orange.

All this however, passed by Hikaru as completely insignificant. His attention was caught onto the sturdy wooden table and chairs which dominated the floor and obviously didn't belong with the original décor. Or more specifically, his attention was caught by the pregnant woman sitting slumped in one of the chairs, dressed comfortably, head pillowed in her arms and chestnut hair pulled back messily from her vaguely sweaty forehead. As he watched her breathe softly, Hikaru grinned so widely he felt as if his smile was about to break free from his face.

"Hey, Haruhi."

Haruhi instantly stirred with a vague mumble. She heard her name again and slowly her eyelids fluttered dopily open to be greeted with the impression of something hazel, almost gold. Then the colour solidified into two warm, twinkling eyes settled close to her and, with a jolt, her head flew up and she burst, "Hikaru!"

As she spoke, she swiftly straightened her legs to stand up but instantly lost her balance and stumbled forward, only saved by Hikaru's arm as he hurriedly jumped up, panicked at the sight of his heavily pregnant wife toppling over like a wobbly toy.

After they steadied, clutching each other's forearms securely, he ducked his head closer hers and smirked devilishly. "Miss me?" he teased, to which an odd flush tinted her face.

"Shut up," she grumbled. Despite her words however, an unusually big smile stretched her lips as he smiled back, delighting in the fond look in her deep eyes. For a few minutes the two simply looked at each other, all their longing emotions clear and molten in their eyes, until Hikaru ducked his head without a word; because suddenly, it seemed silly to word their feelings when they were already embedded and fizzing in the other's heart. He brushed his lips indulgently against hers and, just before they crushed together, Haruhi muttered, "Welcome home, darling."

At length they broke apart for air and simply lent their forehead to each other's for a moment, heated breath misting together, until Hikaru finally grinned widely and teased in a whisper, "You _so _missed me."

Haruhi's eyes twitched upwards and she admitted gruffly, "I guess I did." Then she hurriedly added evasively, "Did you miss me?"

"Throwing grapes at Kaoru gets old after a while," he informed her with a wise nod and, after she had snorted in exasperated amusement, he smirked and purred, "Course I missed you, Haru." Then he paused, thinking back. He slowly let his hand drift from Haruhi's hair down to her bulging stomach, which he softly rubbed a hand over before smiling and pecking her cheek. "I really missed you. And the babies. There are some scary people about."

Haruhi blinked, getting a vague sense of déjà vu. "Scary people?"

"Yeah," he answered and for a few moments he gave her an strange, almost guilty, look and Haruhi raised an eyebrow until he suddenly tightened his hold around her securely and announced a bit too loudly, "Anyway!" He grinned and glanced happily over at the heated, glowing oven. "Am I getting a Haruhi-made meal?" he asked hopefully, before he remembered something and a devilish glint returned to his golden eyes. "_Darling_?" he added teasingly, but the jibe went completely over Haruhi's head.

"I thought I might as well…" she drawled, looking over at the oven herself. "It's relaxing and pretty easy to make…"

"Thank you so much, _darling_."

"It's just spaghetti bolognaise though… I couldn't find my Italian cookbook."

"That's my favourite! _Darling_!

"…" She frowned and gave his teasing face an odd look, feeling somehow out of the loop. "Why do you keep saying 'darling' like that…?" she muttered slowly, narrowing her eyes suspiciously when he sniggered.

"Because I'm not used to _you _saying it," he explained with a mocking smirk. "_Welcome home, darling. _Are we hot on pet names now? Can I call you honey bunny?"

But Haruhi ignored that and just stared at him in puzzlement for a split second until, with strange abruptness, her face flushed deeply and she spluttered in horror, "Did- I didn't call you that!"

Hikaru cackled devilishly, looking utterly delighted. "You so did, baby cakes. …Nah, I don't like that one."

"I didn't!"

"Did!"

"I did not!"

"_Darling!_"

"Stop that!"

"Admit it!"

"No!" As Hikaru continued to roar in laughter, Haruhi flushed and glared, apparently too horrified to realise she was getting drawn into a rather childish debate. Did she really call him 'darling'? _Aloud_? Good god, she'd be making him heart-shaped bento boxes next. What was the world coming to?

She huffed as he cackled loudly before grumbling, though there was an odd hint of fondness in her tone, "You're such a prat."

Hikaru grinned. "We've downgraded a bit from 'darling', haven't we?" he teased, enjoying himself.

"Oh, shut up."

He looked like he was about to respond with some evil comment so Haruhi smoothly interrupted him and pointed flatly to the oven. "The food's keeping warm in there. You can get it and set it out," she told him bluntly, and with that she detangled herself from his arms and sat back down on the chair, concentrating on her balance this time.

Though she would rather bite her tongue off than say anything, her ankles were beginning to feel swollen after wandering from the library to both kitchens in search of recipes and ingredients, and then after standing around cooking. As Hikaru turned away, she discreetly leant down to rub them and wrinkled her nose at the ache, though stubbornly she refused to complain to him about them.

Instead, Haruhi distracted herself from the various vague aches and pains that came with pregnancy by concentrating on the form of her husband and that silly, contented feeling that settled itself quietly and happily in her core now that he was back. She almost laughed at the sight of him obediently trotting off to the oven and rolled her eyes as he took a whole minute to choose between green or black oven gloves. He grinned over at her once he'd stuffed the green ones on his hands and she smiled fondly back before he opened the glass oven door and reached in to fish the dinners out.

"This looks awesome, Haru," he said as he carefully took his own plate out, a hearty helping of rich, thick and herby bolognaise sauce and Italian pasta. He smelt it for a moment with a stupidly blissful look on his face before grinning and leaning over to get Haruhi's. When he looked inside however, something about the plate made him stop and the next second he'd thrown his head back and was roaring in laughter. Haruhi, getting a suspicion about what he was having hysterics about, simply scowled at him.

"Ha- Y-you know, Haruhi, somehow I can - heh - I can tell this is yours," he sniggered, eyes shining wickedly as he brought out the plate.

On top of the slightly smaller portion of spaghetti bolognaise with a sprinkle of, slightly mushy, yellow banana slices.

Haruhi flushed vaguely and glared at him, caught between cursing her stupid cravings and wishing he'd hurry up so she could eat it already. "I felt like it," she drawled. "Got a problem?"

Hikaru beamed. He carried over the two aromatic dinners, teasingly kissed her forehead and admitted, "Not one, Haruhi. Not one."

* * *

**83**

**There are several little bits in this chapter that I'm not happy with, so any constructive criticism or nitpicks will be very much appreciated. In fact I'll smile so much my smile will fall off and become the new Cheshire cat. Because that's how it works. XD Of course, any review tends to make me feel like that xD**

**As most of the remaining chapters are ones I've planned out months ago, chapters should be pretty steadily updated now, unless life or writer's block intervenes. It's almost a relief to finally write these things down…;; They can leave my head now…;;**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter! 8D**

**Please review!**

**xxx**

**P.S. Writing drunk twins is fun... 8D  
**


	30. Kaoru the womaniser

**Kaoru the womaniser

* * *

**

Haruhi glared into the mirror.

Having now grown down to her shoulders and been attacked by Hikaru for an hour, her chocolate-coloured hair shone and framed her face perfectly. Her cheeks had a natural pink tint about them that brightened up her scowling face. Her body was covered in a light shawl and a gorgeous dress of deep violet that Hikaru had picked out for her for the pre-show party he and Kaoru were hosting that night. It hugged her chest and then flowed loosely to her feet, seeming to float prettily around her.

All this however, passed completely over Haruhi's head as, with a characteristically blunt eye, she frowned at her bulging belly which, even under the flowing maternity dress, was obvious. She was now just entering her eighth month and, quite suddenly, had realised just how huge she had grown. Perhaps in was all in her head, but as she looked in the mirror she couldn't help but note how ridiculous disproportionate her belly looked, just as if she had stuffed a beach ball under her dress. The fact that she wasn't just heavily pregnant, but heavily pregnant with_ twins _couldn't be more blatant. And that wasn't even mentioning her not-remotely-flat-anymore chest, something that Hikaru liked to snigger about whenever he felt like being crude.

With a huff, she rubbed a hand over her middle and continued to look into the full-length mirror on the inside of the door to their walk-in wardrobe, which Hikaru had flung open while getting dressed. He was currently sitting at their dressing table on the other side of the room, dressed in a jet black three-piece suit with smoky grey details and a single bright silver chain across the front. He was busy being ridiculously meticulous - in Haruhi's opinion - by choosing what silver rings to wear on his hands and taking his sweet time over every single choice.

After sparing him an exasperated look, she went back to the mirror. Though she was infamously apathetic towards her appearance, in the sudden extremes of her pregnancy she couldn't help but frown at herself and finally mutter, "I look so fat…"

Hikaru paused in his grooming and looked over at her. When he saw the rare sight of her hovering in front of the mirror, he couldn't help but smirk. "You look pregnant, not fat," he snorted. "There's a difference. Pregnant people glow," he added wisely as an explanation.

Haruhi snorted exasperatedly and, as he was still busy fiddling with his jewellery, gave her reflection another weary glance. Hikaru caught the movement and sniggered, amused by her sudden disgruntlement over her appearance.

"Trust me, Haru," he teased, grinning. "The moment you get wobbly thighs, I'll be the first to let you know."

"Gee, thanks," she drawled dryly, which just made his grin widen wickedly.

"Don't worry," he assured her with mock-seriousness, "I still think you're sexy."

Hikaru burst out laughing as Haruhi's face instantly flushed and she scowled irritably at him, embarrassed and annoyed at the comment, before wordlessly stalking over to the bed and dropping heavily onto it, making sure her back was firmly turned to him.

Still sniggering evilly under his breath, Hikaru happily went back to fussing over his rings, all thick bands of real silver, some embedded with vivid stones and others etched into statement shapes. One particular favourite of his was a fierce looking dragon chasing its tail in a circle around his finger, deep rubies embedded along its back. Save for his wedding band he never really wore rings, though he'd decided that they'd add to the look he was going for tonight. He held out his now heavily decorated hands and splayed out his fingers to scrutinise. Finally, chuffed with himself, he wiggled them at Haruhi's back.

"Hey, Ha-ru-hi!" he called, singing his way through the syllables. "Do I look awesome or do I look awesome?"

Haruhi looked over her shoulder and blinked at him. After a moment she commented dryly, "Does it ever bother you that you spend as long getting ready as my transvestite father?"

Hikaru pouted. "I'm going to pretend you said, 'yes Hikaru, my wonderful husband, you do look awesome - and hot - for the party celebrating the debut venture of your career, no need to worry'."

"Whatever."

Smirking vaguely as Hikaru grumbled and went back to glaring at his rings (removing all doubt that she really had been influenced by her new last name), Haruhi was about to suggest that they go downstairs when there was a prompt knock at the door. Before either had the chance to say anything, the door swung open to reveal one of the people who Haruhi suspected didn't even know what the word 'privacy' meant.

Kaoru, dressed in smooth creams, not a auburn hair out of place, beamed at them.

"Ready to go down?" he prompted chirpily from the door, restlessly bouncing on the balls of his feet as Hikaru nodded distractedly. When Haruhi slowly stood up, Kaoru's grin widened and he informed her, "You look beautiful, little sister."

"She does, doesn't she?" Hikaru grinned smugly, glancing joyfully over to her himself as Haruhi muttered apathetically, "Thanks…"

After hurriedly swapping the position of two of his rings and then finally deciding they looked perfect, he jumped up and, as he made his way towards the door, happily held out a hand to his wife. Kaoru sniggered when Haruhi smoothly ignored it, choosing instead to securely retie the bow that held her shawl.

Irritation instantly sparked, Hikaru's brow furrowed into a scowl - it would be nice if, _occasionally_, she actually acted as if they were newly-weds - and he couldn't help but snap, "God, you're so insensitive, Haruhi."

She gave him a mercilessly blunt look, quirking an eyebrow. "And you're too sensitive."

"And I'm a happy in-between!" Kaoru chirpily interrupted them, grinning teasingly at his brother as he leaned over and held Haruhi's hand.

"Sure you are," Hikaru snorted mockingly, before making a point of holding Haruhi's other hand as he shut the bedroom door behind them. Haruhi merely rolled her eyes in response, though as he wordlessly entwined their fingers and rubbed a thumb apologetically and affectionately over her knuckles, a hint of a smile threatened her lips and she squeezed his hand. After flashing her a quick, giddy smile, Hikaru turned his attention back to his brother and teased, "If you're in-between, the rest of us must be emotionless bricks."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he sniffed, which just made Hikaru's smirk grow wickedly.

"What girl's movie was it that you started crying over?"

Kaoru scowled.

"That was one time!"

* * *

The youngest Hitachiin brother smiled mildly around the party as he sipped his drink and decided smugly that it was humanly impossible for a Hitachiin to throw a _bad _party.

The horde of beautifully dressed guests were laughing and chatting to each other as they milled around the glittering cavity of the Hitachiin estate's ballroom and several had bled onto the raised chequered dance floor, serenaded into dance by live musicians. Hikaru was out of sight, greeting guests while the younger made sure everyone else kept socialising, but Kaoru could see Haruhi and had watched her in amusement as she gravitated several times to the lengthy banquet table. She was currently sitting with Tamaki and Ayame, smiling mildly in exasperation as Tamaki chattered and threw his hands out some dramatic gesture.

He snorted as a second later the blond was obediently trotting off, having apparently been ordered to get drinks by an embarrassed-looking Ayame. Smirking, Kaoru double-checked that all the other guests seemed to be happy before walking over to him and waving a few fingers in his direction to get his attention. The moment he spotted his friend, Tamaki brightened up and, abandoning his hunt for drinks, happily bounced over to him.

"Hey, Milord," Kaoru greeted with a mocking grin, knowing that Tamaki was probably going to spend all night running around like a headless chicken for both Ayame and especially Haruhi; he was too much of a gentleman to let a pregnant woman do anything that he could do for her instead. "Having fun?" he teased.

Oblivious, Tamaki nodded brightly and, with a subconscious swish of his blonde hair, announced, "Of course! I wanted to speak with you, Kaoru. Are you busy? No? Good!" he prattled, without even giving an amused Kaoru a chance to answer, bouncing lightly on the balls of his heels. "You see," he said proudly, pausing for effect before he continued, "I _remembered_."

Kaoru stared at him.

"…Huh?"

"It took a while but then it just came to me in a flash, as things often do to my wonderful mind. Well, I say remembered - as you must know, a king never forgets!"

"Firstly, I think that's elephants, not kings," Kaoru scoffed, smirking mildly. "And second, I have no idea what you're going on about, Milord."

Instead of deflating, Tamaki just looked triumphant at this and instantly posed spectacularly, one finger poised in the air; just like Sherlock Holmes, Tamaki loved dramatically revealing his thoughts, whether it was an idea or a scheme. It was the only time you could prance around and appear clever at the same time (clever to him at least).

He beamed. "I remembered your girlfriend!"

"My…?" For the second time, Kaoru just stared at his friend, through finally he was getting a creeping suspicion of what he was talking about. He inwardly groaned when he remembered his meeting with Tamaki and Ayame at the gallery, which he hadn't given a second thought. Now was he going to have to explain what had happened between them to split up him and- him and _Mari_?

He tried not to scowl. Wonderful.

_The world's conspiring against me, I swear._

"Look, Milord-"

But Tamaki had already started talking. "Mari, wasn't it? Yes, I remember meeting her at a soirée Dad held a few years ago. The Hozumi's were one of our partners of the mall complex we launched that year. We still meet up with the family every now and again - the mall turned out to be very successful…"

But his words trailed off once he noticed the suddenly odd look on his red-headed friend's face. Kaoru seemed to have frozen, as if an idea had trotted up to him and promptly whacked itself around his head, and now he had a growing expression of disbelief, golden eyes widening. His lips moved wordlessly for a few moments, his words taking a second to load, until he finally muttered, "Wait… wait. Did you say Hozumi? Mari _Hozumi_?"

Tamaki nodded slowly, bewildered at Kaoru's reaction. "_Oui_. We've had a few deals with the Hozumis with smaller ventures. Uh- is she here?"

He didn't reply. It took a moment, but eventually everything clicked in Kaoru's mind and he stared at his friend in shock, his mouth falling open.

"_This girl actually requested a dinner - the daughter of the Hozumi family, she's called-"_

_"I don't want to do it."_

"She- _really_?"

"Um, yes? That's her last name, isn't it? Did I mix her up?" Tamaki wondered, even sounding unsure of himself now. He paused and frowned worriedly at his slightly shorter friend as Kaoru felt all the blood rush out of his face and he turned very pale against his red hair. "Are you okay, Kaoru?" he asked with the abrupt earnestness he was famous for.

Kaoru shook his head and made an odd, wild gesture with his hand. "No- I mean, yeah but- The venue for our show - we booked it with the Hozumi family!"

"Yes, I know-"

"But-! But, that means _Mari's here tonight_!"

Tamaki hesitated, feeling as though he was seriously missing something, and stared at Kaoru as, his cheeks now slightly flushed, he stared wildly around him as though expecting her to walk out of thin air. The younger Hitachiin then paused and recomposed himself slightly before grinning over at his blonde friend.

"Thanks, Tono," he said, feeling light-headed as he dismissively pressed his half-full glass into Tamaki's hand. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Uh- okay," Tamaki replied, perplexed.

Smiling, Kaoru - in what he later reflected on as a very manly gesture - clapped a hand to Tamaki's shoulder before hurriedly striding off to find Hikaru. When he saw him, he - in what he later reflected on as a not-so-manly gesture - flapped his hands at him and all but squeaked, "Hika, Hika!"

Hikaru smirked mildly when he saw Kaoru flapping and squeaking at him, before he hurriedly turned back to the couple he was greeting and excused, "I'm sorry, but my brother seems to have devolved into some sort of bat. I'd better go and see what's wrong before he takes off."

Looking bewildered, the mild-mannered pair simply nodded and Hikaru quickly turned away, running straight into Kaoru almost immediately. Before he could ask what was wrong however, Kaoru had interrupted him and blurted out his question so fast all the words blurred.

"_Hikaru-have-the-Hozumis-arrived_?"

Hikaru blinked. "Have what?"

"The- the Hozumi family. Are they here yet?"

"Ah…. Hozumi. Um." He paused and wrinkled his nose in concentration as he mentally shifted through the names of the faceless horde of guests. Feeling uncharacteristically impatient, Kaoru watched him as he tapped his chin and thought for a whole agonisingly long minute before he finally grinned. "Ah, yeah," he remembered, sounding smug. "Hozumi's that guy with the tiny glasses. We booked our-"

"Our venue with them, yes," Kaoru interrupted hurriedly, though when he caught Hikaru's eye he immediately fidgeted. "Sorry," he apologised sincerely, before worriedly biting his lip. As he finally slowed down, a few vague shadows of doubt were beginning to make themselves known, tugging at the corners of his mind insistently. Did Mari even want to see him again? Did he want to see her, the girl who'd lied to him for so long? Kaoru hesitated and drew his eyes away from Hikaru's to frown to himself but found, to his surprise, that no thought was needed.

He'd made up his mind the moment he realised that she was there.

He looked back up to his brother. "Hikaru, do you know where they are? The whole family, that is. He did come with his daughters, didn't he?"

Kaoru didn't realise how that sounded until Hikaru started to snigger, immaturely amused. "You sound like some desperate stalker," he snorted, grinning wickedly. "Just let Mom set you up if the alternative's preying on our poor innocent business partners. Not even them, their _daughters_. You fiend, Kaoru."

The younger flushed pink and promptly hit his brother's arm, scowling. "Shut up. I'm not preying after them-" _Well, not really- well, only kind of- We've met before, it doesn't count! I'm not a fiend! _"I just want to greet the- the family… Quit laughing, Hikaru! Do you know where they are or not?"

Hikaru continued to cackle wickedly at his pouting twin, before he winked teasingly and began to scan the crowds around them. As was typical of him, the first figure who caught his attention was Haruhi at the far end of the hall. She was in the seating area, sitting alone at a round table and looking as though she was having a perfectly good time with a hearty helping of food, her expensive purple dress tucked carelessly beneath her. After smiling at his wife for a split second - Kaoru sighed - he let his eyes wander around the select crowd who they were supposed to be entertaining before he caught sight of the oldest Hozumi daughter. Sure enough, the rest of the family wasn't far off.

"Over there," he said, nudging him as he began to walk over, taking the long route as to avoid the dance floor where several couples were elegantly twirling. He waited until Kaoru had trotted after him and caught up before adding, "I don't know why you suddenly want to meet the daughters though. One's married and does an amazing impression of an octopus and the single girl looks like a piglet."

Kaoru gaped at him, offended despite himself. "She does not look like a pig!"

"I didn't say pig, I said pig_let_. Kind of cute but with a funny nose." Hikaru paused and narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his twin, suddenly getting the sneaking feeling that he was missing something. And when it came to Kaoru, he _hated_ missing _anything_. "Why're you so bothered anyway?" he demanded, not buying the 'just want to greet them' excuse at all. "This doesn't have anything to do with that thing that happened before, does it?"

But he'd already lost his brother's attention.

Kaoru was too busy staring at someone he thought he'd never see again.

Hikaru frowned and looked up, only to instantly change his expression into a practised smile and hold out a hand for the smart and bespectacled Mr Hozumi, who had homed in on them like a heat-seeking missile. A leech if he ever saw one, Hikaru mused dryly as they swapped the usual greetings, but a good businessman nevertheless. Behind him were the rest of the Hozumi family, apart from the son who appeared to have wandered off and the wife who was busy socialising with every guest present. So really, it was only the daughters.

'Pretty' was a word to describe the eldest and Hikaru found he was pressed to find another. There was nothing wrong with her - her hair was perfect, her cheeks were subtly rosy and her blue eyes were big and doll-like - but in the same vein, there was. There seemed nothing unique about her. She looked like a painted porcelain doll happily trotting in the direction she was pointed, with no glaring attributes to show for it. Even her eyes were glassy, though when he'd greeted her earlier wrapped around her husband's arm like a squid she had at least betrayed a hint of personality in her eyes and actions. Now it was obvious she was just doing what was expected of her. It was sad, really.

Then there was the girl Hikaru had tactfully dubbed, 'Piglet girl'. She was smaller than him and obviously a year or so younger too, and was dressed in a plain, shimmering grey dress. A slightly outgrown pixie cut of dark ash hair settled over her brow and she stared at her shoes with grey almond eyes, fiddling unceremoniously with a silver chain around her neck. While Hikaru felt she couldn't be described as beautiful, what with that oddly squashed-looking nose, it at least gave her face a bit more personality than her sister.

"How are you, Mr. Hozumi?" Hikaru recited with a fixed smile, turning his attention away from the daughters. He couldn't remember how many times he'd tattled off the exact same thing tonight. If the man answered with 'yes, wonderful party', Hikaru swore his IQ points were going to commit suicide. "You're enjoying yourself, I hope?"

"Yes, wonderful party," Mr Hozumi replied with a smile and Hikaru sighed. "You have a lovely home."

"Thank you." _Better than yours, I bet_, Hikaru mused wickedly to himself before motioning over to Kaoru, who still hadn't spoken. "My brother wanted to come to greet you personally," he prompted.

"Ah, yes." Mr Hozumi regarded the younger twin appreciatively through his tiny spectacles and blinked beadily like a goblin measuring out some gold. "Mr Hitachiin. Thank you for inviting myself and my family."

As went etiquette, he then thrust out a hand.

It hung there.

Kaoru not only didn't shake it, he didn't even react to the fact he'd been spoken to.

Hikaru glanced over at his brother, confused. Instead of paying attention to the formal exchange, Kaoru was staring at the younger daughter, who was still fixated on her shoes, and his expression was so subtly odd that Hikaru couldn't fit it in the context at all. It was an echo of the expression one might have when looking at a cherished friend balancing on the edge of forgiveness, which didn't make sense to Hikaru as, to his knowledge, his twin had never even met Piglet girl before.

"Kaoru?" he pressed.

Then, to everyone's surprise, Kaoru smoothly bowed, held out a hand to Piglet girl and delivered almost stoically, "Would you like to dance, miss?"

As Hikaru stared at his brother in shock - '_either something's going on or Kaoru's just become a womaniser-!_' - the younger girl lifted her grey eyes to look blankly at his offered hand. After a few long, wordless moments (this hesitation threw Hikaru into even more world-shattering confusion - because who would say no to a Hitachiin?), she eventually said mildly and with careful politeness, "That would be very nice, thank you."

Without a word, Kaoru softly took her hand and together they left for the small dance floor. Hikaru tried to questioningly catch his brother's eye as he left, but Kaoru's gaze never left the dark-haired girl beside him. He had an odd expression on his face; both stoically guarded and yet unexplainably soft. It was tentative as well, the look of someone who was daring, ever so slightly, to hope.

Hikaru felt his brain hurt.

* * *

**x3**

**Cliffhanger? Sort of?;; XP I hope you liked this chapter :3 It's not one I'm particularly fond of (it's a rubbish filler if I ever saw one…) but hopefully you liked it somewhat. Confused Hika was fun to write at least xD Kaoru would be kind of offended if he knew the name he's given Mari xD**

**As I look back over the original manga, I wonder how much I've really adapted the characters to myself and this story… They should be (slightly) more mature, but I hope they haven't changed too drastically. I tend to submerge myself in my characters too much to take an objective view on these things anymore…;;**

**Anyway. Thank you very extremely much for reading! I honestly really appreciate it, you never fail to cheer me up. :')  
You awesome person, you.**

**;)**

**Please review!**

**xxx**


	31. The Importance of Ring Symmetry

**Hi! How are you? It's uh, been a while.**

**I'm really sorry about delays with finishing this story. A combination of writer's block and complete lack of time. This chapter has been almost finished for a long time, but I've only just had the chance and motivation to finished that last little bit. I'm still determined to finish the whole story and most of the other chapters are part completed. Not long to go now! Thank you so much to anyone still reading, and enjoy :) **

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**The Importance of Ring Symmetry**

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_I'm turning into quite a bad party host._

That thought fluttered in Kaoru Hitachiin's mind but was quickly dismissed as he walked onto the dance floor, elevating the hand of his dance partner. Mari Hozumi walked beside him, almond eyes trained on the glittering floor, folds of her dark grey cocktail dress flowing down to her knees. In time with the beats the hired band were coaxing from their instruments, both turned to the other with the smoothness of those who had been forced through this many times before and clasped hands; Kaoru's free hand was carefully placed at her waist while Mari's rested on his shoulder. Then, on the next beat, they began to dance.

For a while, neither spoke. One's mind was buzzing with questions while the other's was fumbling with how to answer them. They danced in wide, sweeping loops, not a step out of place, like clockwork figures on a music box. The silence stretched on for two whole songs until finally Mari decided to speak, at last raising her eyes from the floor.

"It's a nice colour," she said, as though they had been in the middle of a conversation.

Kaoru blinked at her, lost. "What is?" he asked with a cock of the head. She seemed to be looking at his chest with vague appreciation on her face.

"Your cravat," she said mildly. "It's a pretty colour. It reminds me of your hair." Unable to help a bemused smile, Kaoru looked down at it too; a burst of unruly orange on a nest of creams. "Thank-"

But then, all at once, the real issue here, the cause of the shock and sadness, came bubbling up to the forefront of his mind like a bursting hot spring. The smile fell away and was replaced with an uncharacteristically hard frown, as something - Anger? Hurt? Anticipation? - made his heart beat furiously against his ribs. There would be time to admire random colours later.

"Mari?"

"…Yes, Kaoru?"

He paused and wondered how to phrase it - '_what the hell?_' seemed a bit too crude - but sudden frustration seemed to have inhibited his brain. So in the end he settled for a short, guarded bark of "Explain."

She took a slow inward breath, which seemed to tremble a little in her throat (Kaoru would feel guilty about that later), and then, to his relief, did just that.

Dreamy, vague eyes wandering aimlessly, she explained in the robotic tone she seemed to save for her family, that she was indeed a Hozumi. She was part of the elite social circle that Kaoru's family floated at the top of, and had even gone to Ouran Academy. But while her family was addicted the glamour of their own prestige, she found herself scared of it, terrified of the diamond encrusted pressure placed on her every move. She couldn't turn away from her family, however, so her and her father made a deal.

She had a year.

With Kaoru prompting her to continue, she added that that meant a year to do whatever she liked, as long as she kept it quiet and out the way, then on her twenty-first birthday she was to play the social circle with the vigour of a true aristocrat (which, needless to say, she was rubbish at). She could've travelled the world or launched her own business, but instead perplexed her parents by getting an apartment, a hobby and a job at a small café with a purple balcony. It was silly, but it made her happy. And when she met Kaoru, she didn't think she had ever been quite as happy.

"You could have told me," Kaoru automatically replied, though he was still frowning as her odd explanation registered. He was certain she was speaking the truth - a look at her face said that much - but it seemed so… well, ridiculous. Taking a year off from your life? He'd never heard of it and, though his time in the erratic host club made him passive to most lunacy, it threw him off. It just seemed so odd and… so, so sad.

"You _should_ have told me," he repeated, more firmly.

"Oh… I was going to. On my birthday-"

"No," he corrected, his tone sharper than intended. "_Before _that."

She seemed to falter and an embarrassed hue touched her face. For a long, heavy second Mari struggled with the words, forever flustered when the tone was serious and the light was on her, and eventually came out with, "Yes… But- It was so nice." She didn't babble excuses, but just left it at that, merely adding sadly, "I'm sorry. Really."

Silence hung down on them again. Kaoru frowned, though he left he understood what she meant; she hadn't been using him as he had feared but simply trying to live in her own quiet version of a fairy tale. It was selfish, no doubt about it. Childish and selfish and he tried to be angry at her, as he had a right to be. But that particular feeling was fading, no long clenching his gut with a solid iron grip. It was still there, definitely, as the act of selfishness had honestly killed him for a while, but it no longer had the edge that had dug straight into the muscles of his heart; he decided to blame growing up with Hikaru.

Or perhaps, he mused as she quietly added that she wanted to see him again but, after one unsuccessful attempt, had assumed the feeling was only hers, there was a simpler reason. Looking at her, the girl he'd secretly grown so fond of, he found he just _wanted _to forgive her. Despite the irritation, the hurt, he wanted to take her out to watch the stars and be just as before. He'd missed that, so much.

"You don't have to forgive me," she said in a sad but matter-of-fact tone. "You're so nice, I want to make sure you know." Kaoru quirked an eyebrow, stuck between being amused and defensive, but she interrupted, a rare occurrence. "See him, in the brown?"

She nodded behind him. Her voice suddenly sounded odd; quiet and reluctant, like the bearer of bad news who was hurriedly trying to detach themselves so they didn't start crying. It was confusing to say the least. Kaoru casually glanced over his shoulder and instantly saw who she meant. A tall man in a plain brown suit - plain ugly in his expert opinion - with a thin face and a high forehead, wearing the expression of one who felt he was much more important than he was. Kaoru didn't recognise his face so guessed he was simply a plus one - a guest of a guest and of limited concern.

"What about him?" he asked curiously, bringing his eyes round to the suddenly uncomfortable girl before him.

"He's my betrothed."

Kaoru stopped. Just stopped. It felt like his very blood had come to a halt in his veins.

"…What?"

"Or at least, he will be by tonight," she continued in a sad, weary tone of voice. Her grey eyes seemed to be avoiding both Kaoru and the betrothed in question; they were staring, unfocused, at the smoothly playing band. "Father informed me he'll be arranging it. It was the deal, you see."

Kaoru didn't see, not at all. His eyes were playing the same avoidance game as Mari's but they were tighter, something akin to both anger and shock making another appearance and dragging his brow together into a firm grimace.

"What deal?" he managed, feeling dazed.

Mari explained instantly, sounding as robotic as Kaoru had, as though she was saying a well-rehearsed truth; her unfocused eyes were still staring off into distance. "After a year of doing as I wished, I must be wed. To help father's business. My younger brother was promised the company, so it was the only future painted out for me."

"That's stupid," he said. "Mari, you can do whatever you want."

But she shook her head. And it was the utter acceptance in her eyes that upset and annoyed Kaoru most of all. He knew she wanted so much so than that; so how come she could only fight enough to taste the life she wanted before being sucked back? How many years of suffocation made her look at the world and the cards it dealt her with such meekness? He wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her, wake her up, open her eyes.

He knew many girls whose lives seemed to revolve around an arranged marriage - Kyouya's sister for example, skipped over as an heir - but they all seemed happy enough. Perhaps it was ignorant of him, but he'd never took notice and realised just how sad it all was.

"I should go," said Mari.

_Don't. Wait. _

"Yeah."

Somehow, they had made their way to the edge of the dance floor. Hands were softly retracted and they both stepped back at the same time, as though this was still part of the dance. For a moment they simply looked at each other, memories twinkling between them like stars, before she finally smiled, albeit a little sadly; it struck Kaoru as very child-like.

"It _is_ a nice colour," she said, motioning to his cravat, and then she was gone.

For a while, Kaoru simply stood, dazed. He'd been working under the assumption of this was a reunion and that he had the luxury to get over being angry, to process the full story in his own time. He'd assumed they could be together now. The force of that being presented to him and then yanked away so fast made him feel light-headed and lost, as though he'd been thrown up in the air and shook a little. He didn't know what to do with himself.

He was crushed.

* * *

After a while of half-heartedly conversing with guests and getting them to mingle like a good host should, Kaoru decided to take a break. With Hikaru nowhere in sight, he lounged solo against the buffet table, nursing a crystal glass of wine and casting a lazy eye over the crowd.

He couldn't see Hikaru but he could see his mother, chatting to guests and buzzing around like a happy little bee. She seemed unable to help stepping up to the plate and helping with the hosting duties that Kaoru was passively letting pass him by, too absorbed in his own thoughts.

Then he caught sight of Haruhi, sitting at a table again - the party must be a killer for her feet, he reflected somewhat guiltily - with a companion that made him raise his eyebrows. Smiling and bending over Haruhi's bulbous belly, was Mari. He watched in mild interest as they talked for a moment before Mari shyly lifted a hand to rest on Haruhi's much loved stomach; Haruhi herself looked rather amused. After a second, Mari's face brightened in obvious joy and Haruhi laughed. After a few more moments of conversation however, the brunette said something that made Mari's profile bloom red and a second later she appeared to have made her excuses and was scuttling away, flustered.

Haruhi stared after her thoughtfully for a second and then, all of a sudden, looked over at Kaoru; he jumped and, after a brief spark of eye-contact, dropped his gaze back to his glass, feeling weirdly like a school boy caught eavesdropping.

Bewildered, Kaoru wondered what Haruhi had said to make her so flustered but was promptly denied the chance to muse on it by Hikaru exploding into his vision, a clamping a hand down triumphantly on his shoulder.

"Kaoru!" he said loudly, sounding annoyed. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Oh?" the younger answered vaguely, though once he'd got over the sudden appearance of his twin he began to retract back into his previous thoughts. Hikaru could practically see his brother's mind wandering off somewhere else and pouted.

"Oi," he said, prodding Kaoru firmly in his side. " Don't ignore me. I want to talk to you."

"You've got too big a mouth to ignore, Hikaru," Kaoru teased half-heartedly, though he was obviously still somewhere else. Something had occurred to him, something wonderful and terrible, and his mind was whirring with it. But was it too late to merely think? Perhaps he should take a leaf out of his twin's book… Was it worth it? It was, wasn't it?

"I think you mean I'm too devilishly handsome to ignore," Hikaru corrected, preening, though he quickly began sulking when he noticed Kaoru still paying little attention. Stupid brothers. Hikaru was unaccustomed to being ignored and quickly decided it wasn't right. "_Oi_," he snapped again. "_Earth to Kaoru. _What was with you and that piglet girl earlier-?"

"Hikaru," Kaoru interrupted, staring into the distance, something building just below the surface of his voice. "Do you think… Mom will mind if I make a scene in front of all the guests?"

Though he instantly grew even more irritated, Hikaru scoffed in reply. "She's our mother. I think she's used to that."

"Do you think she'll mind if she can't set me up with girls anymore?"

"I'm sure she'll get over it," he said, though the older twin's brow was now furrowed in confusion. He glared at Kaoru's zoned expression before adding, "…Is this your way of telling me you're gay?"

Kaoru laughed loudly, breaking out of his daze so suddenly that Hikaru jumped. Kaoru grinned over at him and, dropping his glass on the side, admitted with random giddiness, "Kind of the opposite actually." Without warning, his hand shot out and grabbed hold of Hikaru's wrist, holding it up so he could pull off one of Hikaru's many rings. "I'll be borrowing this. I promise I'll explain later!"

Before Hikaru had a chance to reply, Kaoru turned on his heel and quickly disappeared into the crowd. The oldest twin frowned at him and was about to follow when the fact his brother had just run off with his silver dragon ring registered and he gasped in horror, all thoughts of a chase forgotten.

"Wha- But - _That was my favourite one_!" He continued to splutter as he stared down at his hands in disbelief, feeling slightly violated. "You've thrown off the symmetry of my rings! You've ruined my outfit! You git!"

Hikaru was still mourning his stolen ring when Haruhi awkwardly wandered over a few minutes later, after being informed her husband appeared to be having some sort of breakdown. She watched him mutter to himself and fiddle with his jewellery for a few moments before, catching the phase 'totally screwed up my look…', scoffing dismissively. Husbands were idiots.

"Haruhi!" Hikaru wailed, catching sight of her. He flapped his de-ringed hand at her in distress. "My git of a brother just ruined my look!"

She quirked an eyebrow. "You look exactly the same."

"No I don't!" he protested. "Haruhi, please try to appreciate the gravity of this situation. This is a fashion event and _my ring symmetry is destroyed_."

"Right. Why did he take it anyway?" Haruhi asked, peering at his hand and blatantly steering the conversation away from the idiocy of 'ring symmetry'.

Hikaru shrugged and frowned, as though this had only just occurred to him as strange. He gave up on his hand and instead snaked it around Haruhi's waist, so she could lean on him if she wanted to (she didn't). "I don't know actually," he said in response to Haruhi's question. "Apparently he's going to be the opposite of gay, but mom can only set him up with guys, which isn't gay at all, and he'll achieve this by making a scene and ruining my ring symmetry."

Haruhi stared at him and surprisingly seemed to understand what he was saying, much more than he did.

"Really?" she said, raising her eyebrows as she thought of her talk with that dreamy girl earlier. Then she added bluntly, "That's a bit impulsive for Kaoru. Seems like something you'd do."

Hikaru frowned, irritable with being the only one outside the loop, and was about to complain when a gasp and a hush spread through the crowd around them, spreading like ripples. Bewildered, he looked up and glared into the epicentre of the commotion just as the crowd in front thinned, moving into groups so they could gossip. A scene opened up before him.

He looked. Then he looked away, ran a mental run through of all alcoholic drinks he'd had that night and looked again. Then Haruhi had to thump him on the back, because he promptly began to choke on thin air.

* * *

At first it seemed relatively innocent; Kaoru was talking to Mari while she stood under the gaze of her father, as appropriate. Then her pulled her away to a quieter corner of the hall and suddenly the crowd's curiosity was piped.

Kaoru didn't even notice. They didn't matter. His heart was beating painfully hard and he felt queasy, but none of that mattered either. He had to say what he'd come to terms with, what he'd decided, otherwise the chance would have gone and Mari condemned. The ring dug sharply in his fist.

"Kaoru-"

"I've fallen in love with you, Mari," he said, as squeaky and explosive as a burst balloon. "So I can't stand to see you go through this and just accept it. Because you have got a choice."

Then, in the midst of his party guests, a mere ten feet away from her family, he dropped to one knee and held up his twin's favourite ring. A hush fell about the crowd and nerves amplified his voice as he burst out, "Marry me instead."

Mari blinked at him. Her mouth fell into an 'o' and for a few long moments, she didn't speak. It looked like she had frozen solid. Kaoru was beginning to freak out and wonder whether he had broken her, when she flushed, bent down and said in a conspirer's whisper, "Oh- Oh, Kaoru, you don't need to do this. Please, don't feel-"

"I love you, Mari," Kaoru repeated in a burst of bravado, though the nerves were still making everything but her voice buzz like an out of tune radio. He took her hand. "I really do. You can reject me but- I'm not doing this for charity. Think about it."

Then he allowed himself a smile and repeated, just because it made him feel good, "I'm in love with you."

Mari continued to stare at him.

"You'd look pretty silly if I said no," she pointed out finally, voice faint.

"True," he agreed. He felt giddy, hyper, and a slow smirk was spreading across his face as he watched the corners of her lips twitch, tears clouding her eyes like watery lenses. "I'm kind of hoping you won't," he teased, slipping the ring onto her finger. It hung there, oversized.

As though that were a trigger, Mari suddenly burst into tears, dropped to her knees and tried to throw her arms around him, but missed and ended up embracing his bent leg instead; in her well of emotion - relief and love and something exuberating she couldn't put her finger on - she didn't even care. Her head was bobbing like a nodding dog toy. Delighted beyond words, Kaoru grinned and pulled her as close as he could, no longer even aware that they were sitting on the floor of his party, her would-be fiancée gawping at them from across the room.

"I- I-I do luh- love -" Mari was spluttering, but for once she didn't seem able to get the words out.

Kaoru didn't mind. He got the picture.

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**This chapter sucks. Really bad. Sorry. I promise it'll get better in a chapter or two. I'll be updating the last few chapters of this story soon. :)****  
**

**Thanks for holding on!**

**xxx**


	32. A Lover's Spat

**A Lovers' Spat**

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The youngest Hitachiin twin lent against his desk and smiled to himself as he looked around.

The cavernous backstage was a hive of flustered activity. Hired help were hauling in equipment, assistants were flittered around anxiously to make sure everything was accounted for and make-up artists had pinned down available models to practise on. Kaoru drummed his fingers on his sketch book and hummed happily to himself as he took a moment to watch; his smile became a full-blown beam when he saw a rack of his real life designs being carefully pushed across the scene.

The show was soon. Really soon. They were finally moving everything into the venue and now it was just a couple of weeks of practise runs and final touches before the real thing. He got goose bumps whenever he thought of it, his stomach a bubbling pot of excitement and nerves. After so long, it was hard to believe the time had finally arrived.

"Here Kaoru!"

He jumped before spotting his mother among the bustling activity, as stylish as ever, a hand raised in greeting and a mocking grin on her face. "No time for zoning out this late in the game," she teased once she got close enough. "Too much work to do for that!"

He made a face. "I'm getting round to it," he promised, and though he smiled he made sure to watch her eyes carefully; they were flitting around with professional scrutiny. "I thought you were coming later, Mom?"

"Oh, I had some time," she replied with careless wave; her rings glittered in the low light. "This all looks very exciting. How are you getting on, Kaoru?"

Kaoru grinned. "It's all going just fine-"

_**Slam!**_

Yuzuha jumped as Hikaru, scowling, appeared out of nowhere and slammed a file onto Kaoru's desk with so much force it echoed around them. Then, without looking once in their direction, he turned on his heel and stalked off again, muttering darkly to himself. Bewildered, Yuzuha blinked after her oldest son for a few seconds before questioningly quirking an eyebrow at Kaoru, who sighed.

"He's been like that all day," he admitted, frowning. "He's still upset about Mari."

Their mother smirked, instantly amused. "Still?" she said.

"Yeah." He shrugged and sighed again. "He's sulking about me being engaged to a girl he's never met and about the fact I didn't consult with him beforehand. We talked about it for _hours _before he proposed to Haruhi. Now he's refusing to speak to me."

"A lover's spat?" their mother teased, chuckling at Kaoru's pouting face (he considered denying the term but decided wearily that, in all truthfulness, the evidence was against him). Yuzuha smiled at him before lightly patting his soft red hair. "Kiss and make up," she advised. "The world doesn't make sense if my boys aren't talking. And it'll cause fewer casualties."

As if to illustrate her point, a loud bang suddenly sounded from behind a sea of clothing rails, along with a shout of '_I wanted federal blue, not navy blue, dammit!_' and a panicked yelp of '_Sorry, sir!_'. They both gave the direction a rather alarmed look before Kaoru muttered hurriedly, "Yeah, I think I'll go talk to him now… Do you mind just looking around yourself, Mom?"

"Of course not. See you later, darling. Are you bringing Mari around for dinner tonight?"

"Yeah."

Her eyes twinkled. "Excellent."

Smiling, Yuzuha Hitachiin then walked away with a devilish glint in her eye, which made Kaoru wonder whether he should be scared or not. Noting the skip in his mother's walk, he decided that yes, he should be scared. Or rather, Mari should. Very, very scared.

Shaking his head, amused despite himself, Kaoru just decided to put it out of his mind and went hunting for his brother instead. He was easy to find - all he had to do was trace the steps of the traumatised-looking assistant who'd just scurried past him with arms full of deep blue material. His older brother was adjusting the skirt on a manikin, a tape measure slung around his neck, though the moment his golden eyes caught onto Kaoru, he turned and wordlessly stalked off, only pausing to snatch up a clipboard. Kaoru sighed and followed.

"Hey, Hikaru!" he called, despite the fact his twin had obviously already seen him. When Hikaru just ignored him, Kaoru pouted. "Hika, I said I was sorry!"

But again, Hikaru didn't react, apart from to scribble something rather viciously onto the clipboard. After dodging a clothing rail with swiftness he felt a ninja would be proud of, Kaoru trotted after Hikaru and hooked an arm through his. "Don't ignore me," he whined, giving him the puppy dog eyes.

"Humph." Hikaru wisely avoided Kaoru's puppy dog look and instead de-linked his arm before walking off in a completely different direction.

For what felt like the millionth time that day, Kaoru sighed before faithfully following him.

Though Hikaru was being completely childish about it, Kaoru also understood why he was so upset. Not only had he been left in the dark about one of the most important moments in his dear twin's life, but Kaoru had also been swallowed by guests and relatives immediately after the proposal so he hadn't a chance to explain everything to him - and now he wouldn't listen if he tried. Although it was all utterly unintentional and Kaoru had apologised profusely since, Hikaru had been really hurt by it and was letting that hurt translate into childish annoyance that he released on anyone who stood in his way.

"_Too much rogue_," Hikaru snapped at a make-up artist he passed, somehow making his words sound like an aggressive death threat. The glare he accompanied with this was so furious that the man jumped in panic and began hurriedly rubbing it off, enough so that the poor model squeaked in surprise.

Throwing them both an apologetic look but not regarding them high enough on his priorities list to do much more than that, Kaoru quickly chased Hikaru and fell into step with him, softly nudging his twin with his shoulder. Though he scowled, Kaoru took it as a good sign that Hikaru didn't just walk off again.

"I really am sorry, Hika," he apologised sincerely, feeling overwhelmingly guilty and resisting the urge to throw his arms around him. "I didn't mean to cut you out. I didn't expect it to happen myself, so there was no way I could really discuss it with you…"

Hikaru pouted. "Humph."

"I'm really, really sorry. You know I would have told you everything if I knew it was going to turn out like that. I was trying to forget about it. I love you, Hikaru."

"Humph."

"I'm sorry about your favourite ring too. I was going to buy her another one later but she's really attached to it…"

"_Humph_."

They had run out of back stage to stalk around. Still pouting sulkily and moodily looking anywhere but at his brother, Hikaru folded his arms and found a timetable on the wall to glare at. Throwing caution to the wind, Kaoru slinked up behind him and softly wrapped his arms around his neck, nuzzling and tightening his hold when Hikaru half-heartedly tried to shrug him off.

"Sorry, Hikaru," he murmured quietly. Neither spoke for a few long, heavy moments, so Kaoru eventually filled the silence by adding, "You can be best man."

"Well, duh," Hikaru snapped, Kaoru perking up as his brother finally looked over at him. "If you chose someone else to be best man, I really _would _stop talking to you."

The younger twin beamed happily and hugged him tighter.

"Thank you, Hikaru," he whispered.

"Humph."

* * *

Usually, the moment their day of work was over Hikaru and Kaoru would go straight home to spend some time with Haruhi and fuss over her belly, but today Hikaru had grabbed his brother's wrist, dragged him to the back of the venue and promptly pushed him into their makeshift office. Then he'd glared at him and, though Kaoru had given him some excellent material for a perverted joke by complaining that he was too rough, had said only one word.

"Explain."

So, with a sigh and a pout, Kaoru had done just that.

He told him about how he'd first run into Mari after the date with Leiko and how he'd met her again when he was feeling lonely. He explained how he'd met up with her more and more frequently over the passing months, how she'd comforted and intrigued him, and how he'd finally plucked up the courage to ask her out on a date. Embarrassed, he skimmed over the details of their time at the gallery and, for different reasons, he also skimmed over their sudden break up. Everything after that, the pointless pining and eventual reunion, Hikaru already knew.

By that point they were both sitting carelessly on top of the papers on their desk, facing each other. Kaoru sat cross-legged, feeling like they were both twelve again, while Hikaru propped his arm up on his knee, regarding his twin with an intense stare. After a full forty minutes of explanation, Hikaru ruthlessly - and in the spirit of revenge Kaoru suspected - began probing him about every detail of Mari's personality, including the specific things about her that made Kaoru fall in love. The younger twin had flushed deeply and struggled his way through that part of the questioning, until Hikaru's concentrated profile finally cracked into a wide smirk and he sniggered.

Kaoru tried - and failed - not to smile and he prodded him with his toe. "Git," he accused.

Smirking teasingly, Hikaru simply shrugged and Kaoru saw, to his immense relief, that the begrudging shadow seemed to have finally fled from his twin's eyes. Ridiculously delighted at being forgiven (because his mother was right - a world in which the Hitachiin twins didn't talk wasn't one that made sense), Kaoru grinned at him as Hikaru threw out casually, "So, when are you thinking of having the wedding? I better be wedding dress designer."

"Course you are," Kaoru informed him loyally, though he wondered vaguely how they would handle being alone together for all the fittings and such; the wistful side of him however, liked to think that his two most important people would find a way to get along. "And for the wedding date, Mari and I were talking all last night-"

Hikaru smirked wickedly. "I'm sure_ talking _was all you two were doing."

Ignoring him apart from a swift kick to the shin, Kaoru continued, "-and we thought we should have it in a few years."

"_Years_?" Hikaru parroted in disbelief, his smirk falling and his eyebrows shooting upwards to his hairline. When he'd proposed to Haruhi, just a year had been hell to wait and he'd only managed it because of the simple fact that he had no other choice; impatience, he found to his disappointment, didn't make time go faster. He couldn't imagine waiting years - _plural_ - until they could officially pledge themselves to each other. "How many?" he ventured, staring at Kaoru's thoughtful expression.

"Five."

"_Five_? Bloody hell, how can you wait that long?"

Kaoru snorted and flashed his brother a grin before teasing, "Not everyone's as insanely impatient as you."

Seeing Hikaru instantly open his mouth and knowing the logical complaint that would come out of it, Kaoru hurriedly explained, "You knew Haruhi for five years before you proposed. I've only known Mari for a five months. We've had to rush into being engaged but I'd just like some time to… you know, to _go out_. Actually be a boyfriend before I need to step up and be a husband. I just… don't want to rush it."

Hikaru cocked his head and thought about it for a few moments before muttering slowly, "I… suppose that makes sense."

"Yeah. Mari's going to take the time to do a course in ceramics in university. She's always wanted to, but her parents were jerks about it." Hikaru noted the slight annoyance in Kaoru's voice with amusement, though it soon passed and then Kaoru was grinning at him brightly, a twinkle lighting up his eyes. "And that's not even the best bit! Your twins'll be five by then so they can be bridesmaids! Or the boy equivalent. What are they called? Uh… flower boys?"

"Something like that," Hikaru agreed dismissively, a grin touching his face the moment his babies were mentioned. He suddenly really liked this five year plan. "They might even have cousins on the way by then," he teased, though, to his confusion, Kaoru didn't react like he expected, with a blush and a kick.

Instead, he threw back his head and laughed. "Forget about me having kids," he scoffed. "You have _Hitachiin twins _on the way. Worry about yourself!"

Hikaru wasn't sure how to reply to that.

* * *

**See? I'm actually updating! The final chapters should be out soon :)**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	33. Daydreams

**Chapter 33**

**Daydreams**

* * *

Haruhi snorted as she settled down on the bed and brought up the image of her husband in a dress.

Not that she generally made a habit of mentally dressing Hikaru up as a woman, but after the palaver of a baby shower last week, it was hard not to occasionally think about walking into her surprise baby shower to be confronted by the entire host club - plus Mari - dressed in the most fabulous dresses they could find (only women went to baby showers, was their logic). Only Kyouya had denied to join in, but when the twins had shown her the little black number they had tried to convince him to wear she'd had a hard time not laughing herself to tears.

The twins debut show was soon but a glance at the clock told her she still had plenty of time to relax. So Haruhi lent back and let her mind wander. It did that a lot lately.

She thought back to that afternoon, full of laughs, too many useless gifts and old host club stupidity. It had been the first time they had all got a chance to really get to know Mari too, which was interesting. She'd had to leave early, when they were still all collapsed in some armchairs after the gift opening session. Only Tamaki and Hikaru has still been dressed in their gaudy dresses, too busy harassing Haruhi to remove them, though Hikaru had the skirts hitched up around his knees in a most unseemly manner. Tamaki sat like a proper princess.

* * *

_Mari floated over to Haruhi to say goodbye and politely bowed deeply. Haruhi was thrown off by the show of out-of-place formality and, slightly flustered, went to stand up to either stop her from bowing or just return the gesture. As she shifted forwards however, steadying her bulbous belly, more than one hand clamped onto her shoulders to exasperatedly stop her from jumping up._

_Mari smiled. "Thank you for inviting me," she said dreamily. "It was fun. Your babies are going to be very loved, I think."_

_Haruhi smiled back, resisting reminding her that as it was a surprise party, she wasn't actually the one who had invited her. Before Haruhi could say more than 'see you soon', Kaoru had hurriedly jumped up and, after thrusting out a hand, offered brightly, "I'll walk you out."_

_The others watched in amusement as the pair happily clasped hands and wandered out, heads inclined to each other as they exchanged quiet words; a muffled burst of laughter emitted from the hallway when they disappeared from sight. Hunny broke the silence with a chuckle. "I think they're cute," he decided, looking up with bright eyes at Mori, who nodded and smiled wordlessly._

_Before Haruhi could comment that she liked her, Hikaru spoke out in an obnoxious drawl, roughly throwing his volumous blue skirts around as he tried to get comfortable. "I think she's weird," he announced, sounding remarkably like a child commenting on the person who had just stolen his favourite toy._

"_And what - you're a prime example of normality? God help us," Haruhi snorted, while Tamaki spluttered in indignation, "How dare you say that about your brother's fiancé!"_

"_It's true," Hikaru insisted, wrinkling his nose. "Earlier she said that she thought I looked handsome just because I look like Kaoru. And he heard her. And then the other day we were on the patio, waiting for Kaoru to come down, and she randomly said 'hey, that cloud looks like a kangaroo'. I thought it just looked like a deformed blob with ears, but then without saying anything else, she sat down - right on the floor - and just stared at it. It was so weird."_

_Most of them were sniggering now, more at Hikaru's jealous and possessive older brother routine than what he was actually saying, but he still continued, looking dramatically indignant. "Then Kaoru came down and looked at her and - without saying anything to me - sat down too and said 'doesn't that cloud look like a kangaroo?' " Hunny was practically guffawing at this point - in a cute way of course - as Hikaru pouted irritably and spluttered, "I mean, what the hell? I saw no bloody kangaroo."_

"_Perhaps you weren't looking in the right place?" Kyouya suggested lightly, the humorous undertone to his voice making Hikaru scowl at him._

"_Bloody kangaroos…" he grumbled sulkily to himself again._

_Haruhi tried to make a sympathetic face for her husband, she really did, but it just ended up being exasperated and vaguely amused instead; he'd get over the whole not-being-told-and-now-having-to-share-his-twin issue eventually, she reasoned rather insensitively, whether she acted sympathetic or not. He was just being… himself._

"_I'm happy that Kao-chan's found someone; he's so cheerful all the time now," Hunny said chirpily, which Hikaru had no answer to and reluctantly agreed with. "And I like Mari-chan."_

"_Indeed!" Tamaki announced loudly, throwing his hands out in a princely (princess?) pose that made his skirts whirl around him. "Blooming romance warms the heart-!"_

"_She's a right space case," Hikaru interrupted bluntly before Tamaki could start monologing, though after a second he huffed and admitted with a resigned roll of the eyes, "Though, I suppose Kaoru can be too - you know, when he starts thinking."_

"_I suppose that's why you aren't?" Haruhi quipped, unable to help herself._

"_Very funny," Hikaru snorted grumpily, before adding, "But he can. He used to lose on our video games because of him and his thoughts. I bet they met in the clouds."_

"_And may they always stay there," Tamaki announced with a happy smile, romantically lifting an imaginary champagne glass in a classy gesture that everyone appreciated but no one bothered to mirror._

"_Them and the kangaroo," Hikaru sniggered. He paused before adding in a casual afterthought, "Not that I'm not happy for him and all that."_

_Haruhi rolled her eyes as he then proceeded to steal all the banana cubes._

* * *

And now Haruhi's mind drifted back even further, back, back to the sunny times of Ouran Academy. Her mind locked onto Hikaru and she smiled, thinking of when she first became so uncomfortably aware of him, so fulfilled by his presence. That awkward period between them both had stretched on for an agonizingly long time, until finally it had gotten too hard, too _tiring_, so in a desperate moment she had reached out for help. Not to Mei, but Kaoru.

* * *

"_I don't know what to do, Kaoru."_

_Haruhi saw the younger twin turn to her and glared down at her shoes, immediately regretting her outburst. Though they were the last ones in the classroom, it felt as though a hundred eyes were trained on her. _

_After a second, Kaoru asked lightly, "About what, Haruhi?"_

_Her flustered frown simply deepened in response and in her awkwardness she gripped the leather strap of her satchel even tighter. There was a few heavy moments of silence until Haruhi finally shook her head firmly. _

_Undoubtedly sensing the dismissal that was about to come, Kaoru quickly took his friend's hand in his and said kindly, "You can talk to me you know, Haruhi. I'll listen to you, because you're practically my best friend, and I think you'll feel better. Ah, and I won't tell Hikaru anything." He caught her sceptical look and laughed. "I promise! I am capable of keeping the odd secret, you know." He grinned teasingly and added, "Only for you, Haruhi."_

_She rolled her eyes but any trace of an amused smile on her lips quickly died, to be replaced with that flustered frown. Heavily aware of Kaoru's soft gaze upon her, she scowled at her feet and felt the protests It's too embarrassing and It's none of your business die in her throat. Instead, what came rushing out of her mouth was the truth._

"_I can't stop thinking about him," she admitted in a quiet, mortified mutter, the identity of 'him' obvious._

_She noticed Kaoru's mouth do something weird then; a sort of wiggle, as though a smile was trying to wrestle it's way onto his lips. "Oh dear," he said. He watched her for a second longer before smiling kindly and squeezing her hand. "Well, Haru," he said knowingly, "I guess if you're in love with someone-"_

"_In-! Kaoru, I'm not-!"_

"_Fine, fine! If you've got a whopping, great, fat, humungous, mind-absorbing crush on someone that's as obvious as a volcano on your nose…"_

_Haruhi scowled at that and Kaoru sniggered teasingly before ruffling her hair with his free hand. _

"_Aw, I'm sorry, Haruhi." He smiled before squeezing her hand comfortingly again and retracing his thoughts. "What was I talking about? Ah, yeah, you in love with Hikaru." Though her flush darkened, Kaoru noted in amusement that she didn't bother to deny it this time. "Well Haruhi, you're a very logical person. And I guess that in this situation there's only one really logical thing to do."_

_She looked at him and he smiled wider._

"_You have to tell him."_

_Having feared that that would be the answer, Haruhi looked back down to her shoes, her mind working furiously. She was quiet for so long that Kaoru cocked his head and reminded her of his presence by adding, "You'll find out how he feels and then you two can go out, so you'll both be happy. It's better than being in earnest, isn't it?"_

_After a long pause, Haruhi sighed and muttered almost gruffly, clearly not comfortable with talking about this sort of thing, "What if he doesn't… feel the same? It'd just make things awkward."_

_Kaoru's mouth did that strange wiggle again, before he simply teased, "I guess you'll just have to work your Tanuki charms on him and see what happens."_

_Haruhi instantly hit his arm as he cackled, though when they both left the classroom a minute or so later she looked significantly cheered up. In just that short conversation, a new, comfortable stage of their friendship seemed to have been reached, so much so that it wasn't until they had reached the end of the corridor that she finally let go of her future brother-in-law's hand._

* * *

Reflective, Haruhi smiled as she thought back on the incident, as embarrassing as it had been at the time. Kaoru really was a good friend. While her feelings for him weren't romantic, he was still an extremely important figure in her life with his consistent kindness.

In retrospect, she realised with a sigh that he had obviously known Hikaru's feelings as well at that point, which was why he spent the next three days occasionally poking her and reminding her to confess. Which she did eventually, after class one day, in her characteristically blunt and straight-forward manner. She snorted as she remembered the completely bowled over expression on Hikaru's face and the way he'd continuously stuttered the phrase 'Y-you what! R-real- wait. _What_?'. After a few minutes of this half-baked response, Haruhi had given it up as a lost cause and, face burning, quickly turned on her heel and walked away. Hikaru had to chase her down half the corridor before he could stammer back his own feelings.

'_Not exactly a shining moment_', Haruhi mused with a smile.

She glanced over at the bedside clock but found she didn't have to go down to the car for Hikaru and Kaoru's show yet; still a whole thirty minutes to go. She could go down anyway or put some more effort into her appearance, but neither of those options seemed appealing to her suddenly lazy mindset. Instead she simply relaxed into the pillows and wearily closed her eyes, letting her hands rest on her middle and her legs splay carelessly before her.

Not bothering to muffle a quiet yawn, she allowed her mind to wander and soon enough it began to trek, once again, back in time.

* * *

_Haruhi could feel the very concept of time begin to blur. _

_She wasn't quite sure at what point she had woken up and had moved from vague dream to reality. She felt like she was cuddling into a cloud, her face burrowed into a fluffy plane of pillow and a soft cotton sheet tucked under her chin. Her eyelids fluttered blissfully between opening and closing, and all she saw was a comforting whiteness. The only inclination of time moving along at all was the rhythmic breathing against the back of her neck and the occasional shifting of the warm body spooned clumsily to her._

_Revelling in the beautiful warmth, she smiled dopily into her pillow and wondered why people ever got out of bed. Of course, the practical answer decided to slowly rise in her mind and, though she frowned to herself lazily, she couldn't help cranking one eye open before sleepily trying to focus on the small silver clock on the bedside table._

_The time, as it so often annoyingly did, gave her a start and instantly her blissful bubble of isolation burst, leaving her lying in an extremely soft bed in the honeymoon suite of an Atami hotel._

_Haruhi shifted upwards slightly and it took a few long moments of blinking the sleep blearily out of her eyes before she realised why the time had woke her up. She was about to say it aloud when the figure next to her began to shift and whined in a voice thick with sleep, "Ne, Haruhi… Why are you moving…?"_

_Vaguely amused, Haruhi brushed her unkempt brown hair from her eyes and looked around to the right side of the immense bed where Hikaru lay, comfortably burrowed into the soft white sheets, one arm slung around the pillow in a sort of hug. His shock of vivid red hair fell around his face in a messy bed head, the locks soft and floating without the use of gel or brush. As she watched, he let his eyelids slide open, just slightly, and a sliver of his golden eyes looked back at her reproachfully._

"_You can't want to get up yet," he complained in a sleepy grumble. "It's too… comfy to get up."_

"_Regardless, we're going to be late for breakfast," she informed him bluntly, recalling the strict mealtimes she'd seen on the wall upon their arrival at the hotel yesterday. She was quite looking forward to the food as Hikaru had made it out to be absolutely amazing. And it better be as well, she mused, stretching, for dragging me out of such a soft bed. "Get up," she prompted._

_Setting the example, Haruhi then sat up herself and blinked drowsily around the room, the soft sheet falling to her waist. She looked back to Hikaru and flushed when she realised he was blatantly taking his sweet time tracing his eyes from her bare torso to her face. _

"_You're rubbish at persuading people to get out of bed," he informed her seriously, sniggering when she glared at him and pointedly covered herself with the sheet again. Smirking now, he propped his head up with his elbow and teasingly ran a finger up and down her side as he added, "We don't need to worry about meal times. We could visit the cook at half nine at night, order a breakfast sandwich and still get it within ten minutes. Meal times are for people who aren't amazing and influential like yours truly."_

_Haruhi scoffed at that before slapping away his hand and giving him an exasperated look. "I'd rather eat with everyone else than be treated like-"_

"_Can't we just get up on time tomorrow then?" Hikaru whined, sticking out his bottom lip in a childish pout, though his golden eyes were dancing with a strange sort of doting amusement. "Come on, darlin', it's our honeymoon. We're not supposed to be following someone else's schedule. Don't you just feel like… being really, really lazy today?"_

_Haruhi paused. She had to admit, being lazy in an ocean of pillows with Hikaru sounded amazingly appealing just then. This hesitation was all he needed and, triumphant, the oldest Hitachiin twin grinned before pulling her down into bed, her back landing snugly against him. Something in his chest sparking happily at the warm skin-to-skin contact, he tightened his hold and pressed his face happily into her hair, the expression on his face akin to a blissful cat. Haruhi snorted before inevitably melting into the embrace, placing her smaller feet on his._

_They stayed like that for a long while, just snuggling, and when the content silence was finally broken it was, to Haruhi's surprise, by Hikaru, to whom a thought had occurred. He had been silently rolling it over in his mind for a time but, as he could rarely keep his thoughts to himself for long, it eventually tumbled from his mouth, albeit muffled against his wife's hair._

_Haruhi blinked in confusion. "Sorry?" she said, wondering wearily how he could have possibly thought she'd catch that._

_Hikaru hesitated before finally drawing away, his ears flushed pink in awkwardness, and he repeated slowly, "Ah- I- I was wondering, Haruhi… Uh, what d'you- what do you think about… having kids?"_

_She paused. "…In general or us in particular?"_

"_The second one."_

"_Well."_

_Haruhi cocked her head as she thought about it. Of course she wanted kids. The family unit was always incredibly important to her and in all honesty she was looking forward to having her own family with Hikaru. But then there was her dream of going to law school next year, when she'd barely have enough time to make a cup of tea, never mind carry a baby._

_After hesitating for another moment, she shifted round in the circle of Hikaru's arms and smiled in amusement at his awkward expression. "I think we should let it happen when it happens," she said honestly. "I do want kids eventually. What about you, Hikaru?"_

"_A-ah… yeah…" he muttered, shifting from a quirky grin at Haruhi's words to a flustered frown as he tried to think of his own. "W-well, I- I think I'd like… a big family…"_

"_Really?" Haruhi drawled, amused, though she was rather fond of that idea herself. "I never thought you'd be big on the whole family thing."_

"_Me neither," he admitted, in a tone so serious she had to laugh._

_Eyes twitching once in exasperation, Haruhi wrapped her arms snugly around his chest. "One day, Hikaru," she promised, her tone tender. "One day."_

"_One day," he agreed. He then grinned wolfishly and tightened his hold around her middle, oblivious to what was already there. "Probably not for ages yet," he reasoned._

_Haruhi merely had time to smile warmly before she found their bodies curling into one another and, once again, their lips crushed together in a kiss._

* * *

"_Madam_!"

"Ah!"

Haruhi jumped out of her skin as the maid's call finally cut through to her and her eyes flew open. For a few seconds, she just sat in the middle of the bed, disorientated, until she realised with a stab of dismay that she'd actually fallen asleep; God knew what the time was now. Attention gravitating towards the voice that had woken her, she looked to the door and, considering where her thoughts had just been, her face warmed slightly as she spotted the bushy haired maid peering concernedly into her room and quickly curtsying when they made eye contact.

"I'm sorry for waking you, Ma'am," she said in a timid, rushed voice, "but your car is waiting for you. Do you need any assistance getting downstairs?"

"Wha- Oh, uh, no. No, thank you," Haruhi declined politely, faintly embarrassed and annoyed at both the maid's offer and the fact she herself had managed to sleep for so long; with another glance at the clock, she found to her alarm that she'd overslept her thirty minutes and now there was only twenty until the twins' show was scheduled to start. She'd only just get there with a few minutes to spare. Considering all the effort and heart she knew her husband and brother-in-law had put into it, this bad time-keeping was enough to make a vague feeling of guilt travel down her spine like a cold gust.

As the maid curtsied again and left, Haruhi shifted over to the side of their huge bed, swung her legs over and walked as fast as a woman in her eighth month of pregnancy could to where a long, midnight blue coat that Hikaru had picked out for her was hanging. Sighing at the clearly ridiculously expensive material, she carelessly shrugged it on and grabbed her phone from the side to drop into one of its deep pockets.

She was frowning about the fact that she couldn't even do the stupid thing up without straining the buttons and looking like a circus tent when it happened.

As she started towards the door, she felt what seemed like a sharp, internal release. The sudden liquid made a foreboding slap as it hit the wooden floor, soaking the inside of her thighs and sending a shudder along her nerves.

"_Oh_."

She hunched, stumbled and grasped desperately onto the wall, eyes widening as she realised with a jolt exactly what was happening. Panicked, she clasped her free hand to her bulbous belly and her head flew upwards to stare round for help. But the maid had gone. There was no one there. Haruhi groaned before summing up the situation in one uncharacteristic and carefully chosen word.

"_Fuck_."

* * *

On the other side of town, lights and music were blaring, building up to a climax to announce the start of the twin's show. The crowd cheered, the critics poised their pens and Hikaru and Kaoru ran themselves ragged backstage, triple-checking all the details and growing sweaty and grimy under the pressure. The atmosphere was electric.

And Hikaru's phone, buzzing desperately from his office, went by completely unnoticed.


	34. The Race

**The Race**

* * *

Hikaru ran into his office, dusty, sweaty, but grinning from ear to ear.

It had just reached the halftime intermission of his and Kaoru's show, which meant a break for the audience but even more stress and work for backstage. Hikaru couldn't remember being so stressed in his life and was running purely on adrenaline and caffeine, but he was having the time of his life. The atmosphere was like a drug; all colours and running and watching mouth's of plan unravelling perfectly before him.

He jogged in a tight circle, humming a haphazard tune, before his eyes caught on what he had come for; the schedule for the second half. Kaoru had been re-doing a models make up before he had half-yelled, half-squeaked at him to get it and '_within five seconds, Hikaru, or I'm going to combust, and it'll be all your fault'_. But just as the older twin snatched at it and was about to jog back out, he heard his phone beep a little jingle from his coat pocket. He frowned hesitantly at it, tempted to just ignore it - he already had an inhuman amount of things to do - but the thought of a possible ego-boost from Haruhi drew him forwards. Getting ready to preen, he quickly yanked it from the folds of his coat and-

He froze.

_Missed calls: 28_

_Messages: 15_

Expectant, horrified, he slowly unlocked it. The most recent message popped up on screen.

**From:** Tamaki  
_Heyy Hikaru! Ur show has been gr8! Tell Kaoru the sme for mee~ But is Haruhi not cming? ToT_

"Haruhi's not... here...?"

He had to say it aloud to get his head round it. The dark, heavy fog of dread was starting to fill him up, drag him down. _It's not..._

Moving as if in a dream, he dialled voice mail and slammed the phone to his ear. The calm female voice informed him chirpily that he had 23 new messages, the first of which coming from almost two hours ago.

"Oh God, oh God..." he muttered, scrunching his eyes closed as he began to listen.

"Hikaru!" Kaoru burst into their office, frantic and sweating, a tape measure slung around his neck and an overloaded clipboard under his arm. He scowled at him. "Hikaru, are you going to help or... not..."

His words trailed off as he finally noticed the expression on his brother's face. Without a word, Hikaru held out his phone and Kaoru the unusually shrieky but unmistakable tones of Haruhi buzzing from it.

"-pick up your bloody phone and get your ass down to the hospital _right now_. If you make me do this alone because everyone's at your _stupid_ bloody show, I _swear_ I'm going to-"

Hikaru quickly withdrew the phone, as if to protect his little brother from the violence. He gaped at him, opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish as Haruhi's faint, tinny voice buzzed in the background. When the voice message finally ran out, he looked down at it for a few seconds, then returned his gaze to Kaoru and said the most intelligent thing Kaoru could imagine.

"Ahhh," he said.

"Oh, for God's sake." Kaoru flapped his hands in a shooing gesture, frantic and frustrated. "Why are you still here? Go, go! Stop gawping at me!"

Hikaru's face reddened and his face worked as if he was having the most fierce internal debate of his life. The worst thing about these internal debates was Kaoru didn't think Hikaru always came out the victor.

"I know, I know but... but the show," he finally spluttered, creasing his face up. Kaoru tried not to let the horror of that sudden realisation show. So important was mind-blowing was Haruhi's message, that he actually almost forgot about their own show. The faint beat of music from it rang in his ears suddenly and each thump seem to resonate with a word.

_Alone, alone, alone._

"It doesn't matter," Kaoru said firmly. "Go. I can sort everything here; we've almost finished anyway. Now hurry! Run!"

"Right," he said. A sort of determination suddenly seemed to overcome him and a nervous grin spread from ear to ear. It just clicked. "Right," he said again, brightly. "Running! Try not to blow it all up when I'm gone!"

Hikaru quickly grabbed the back of his twin's head and pulled him closer so their foreheads met. Excitement made his movements clumsy, so their heads banged into each other rather than anything else, but the sentiment was still there. The older twin grinned wildly at his brother, eyes sparkling bright, their noses an inch apart.

"Thank you, Kaoru," he said sincerely, trying to put everything into those three words.

Kaoru felt his heart clench slightly at that, before he quickly grinned back. "You better go," he said pointedly. "It's going to take a while to get to the hospital on the other side of town. Lateness is such a terrible trait for a new daddy to have."

Hikaru beamed and playfully ruffled his brother's hair, a last fleeting gesture, before shoving the schedule at him and sprinting out of there as fast as he could, only pausing to grab his jacket and not bothering to show politeness to the few unlucky people who got in his way. Kaoru watched him go with a smile, but another emotion was mixing in with the happy excitement in his gut, as if it was tainting it. Something jerky and worrying, something that felt almost like fear.

* * *

Kaoru Hitachiin was feeling ever so slightly sick.

He stood motionless, anxiously fiddling with the cuff of his fitted jacket as streams of beaming models in beautiful, flashy outfits swept past him and out onto the catwalk for the big finale; he felt as though he was standing shakily in the eye of the storm as he waited for his turn to face the thundering applause. It wasn't as if he was nervous, and he wasn't the least bit scared - honest - but what was really freezing him to the spot was the fact he was going out _alone_.

He had done this show with Hikaru. The months and months of planning and designing and putting everything they had into it, and yet he was the only one who got to walk into the limelight of how brilliantly they had done and say 'I hope you enjoyed it'. There was nothing to be done about it of course - Haruhi was immensely more important - but now it felt kind of wrong, like he was going to get caught red-handed trying to steal all the hard-earned credit for himself.

By leaving now, it was like Hikaru had stolen the half of him that held his confidence. It had all been going so _right_ before … he was sure everyone was going to love the designs he'd put his heart into … but now he wasn't sure at all…

And then there was Haruhi, his dear sister, the babies, the twins… Was everything alright? Could she be giving birth right now, right this second? It would all go smoothly, wouldn't it? _God. _If it didn't, he didn't know what he'd do…

He hoped with all his heart that, for his own sake, Hikaru would get there in time…

Kaoru swallowed and carried on restlessly fiddling with the hem of his jacket, absentmindedly swapping a small smile with a kind faced make-up artist who assumed he was getting stage fright. He recognised from the calculated pace of music and specific final impact models that it would soon be his turn to walk on stage and face the crowds of people there - how many had they invited? He couldn't even remember. A lot.

He suddenly remembered something with a jolt and hastily shot a glance over his shoulder to where a man with a leather waistcoat was waiting in anticipation. He was called The Special Effects Guy - as far as the twins knew, he had no other name. They had originally wanted fireworks and coloured smoke machines to excite the stage as they had walked out to meet their audience, side-by-side, grinning identically, making an impact… The thought of doing it now, on his own, made Kaoru feel a little queasy.

A lanky guy with a clipboard - the younger twin wasn't feeling too hot with names at the moment - gave him an encouraging smile and made a notion for him to take his turn on stage. He heard the entire backstage loudly join in with the applause and, from the sound of it, the models on stage were happily clapping for him too. He finally allowed a gracious grin to tweak his lips, strange pride swelling up inside his chest.

All clapping in appreciation of the creative genius and months of work he'd put into tonight's line.

_But it wasn't just me._

The grin faltered.

_I wish Hikaru could hear it too._

Before Kaoru walked out, he made a quick detour to The Special Effects Guy and hurriedly lent over to him.

"Set off those fireworks," he muttered in a burst of nerves, "and I'll kill you."

Tamaki was clapping so hard his hands hurt, a grin stretching his face so wide he felt it might crack.

When he finally saw one of the twins appear at the far end of the cat-walk, he leapt out of his front row seat to applaud. Many of the crowd around him followed, an exited thrill spreading through the crowd, especially the fashion keen who knew what to look for in a debut show (including several foreign designers and the media) and the easily excitable (including Tamaki and, surprisingly, the twin's mother, who looked overjoyed).

The princely blonde - surrounded by the rest of the original host club and a dreamy Mari, all of whom were happily clapping too - recognised the twin as Kaoru and felt as insanely proud of him as any good-friend-and-occasional-self-proclaimed-father should be. The show had truly been brilliant; rather raw and unrestrained, critics later said, but impressive.

Kaoru walked out solo to the end of the catwalk, in front of the cast of models, with an incredibly endearing smile on his face, which only swelled as he took a moment to take in the applause. Then he bowed deeply in every direction, winking daringly at the flashing media when he turned to them. Only a short moment was spent facing them before he span back round to the front. His self-assured posture began to tense slightly however, when he realised that the roar of well-deserved applause was slowly beginning to waver hesitantly.

He could tell exactly what everyone was thinking. Even Tamaki, as he looked around expectantly, was echoing the mass' unsure thoughts.

_So that's one of them, the Hitachiin twins. Our bright new designers. But where's the other one?_

_Where was Hikaru?_

Tamaki looked up at his friend in a mix of expectation and concern as the younger twin held up his hands slightly for silence, which he was granted by his curious audience almost immediately. There was a few more seconds of silence before Kaoru finally managed to get himself to speak, standing alone in front of a crowd of over two hundred, his hard work out for show.

"Thank you very much for attending," he began, his voice decisively squeaky until he managed to control it. "I hope you enjoyed it and found inspiration in the colours of the festival, our debut fashion show! We are the Hitachiin twins. Though you may have noticed I'm missing someone…"

Kaoru's voice, amplified by his clip microphone, had been threatening to squeak nervously again but, upon hearing a faint chuckle echo along his audience, he relaxed slightly and felt a renewed stab of confidence; he even tried a half-cocked grin.

"Rest assured," he continued, "nothing you see tonight I did on my own; my twin and I worked on every single one of these designs together from the beginning. Hikaru is equally, if not more, deserving of your praise than I am." He paused and then added light heartedly, "Unless you hate it - then it's all his fault."

He smiled at the second rippling laugh, before suddenly sobering somewhat and looking down. Tamaki blinked as his friend suddenly looked right into his eyes, as though he was psychically trying to pass on a message.

"Hikaru couldn't be here tonight," he said, looking straight at the blonde, "because of sudden personal reasons."

_Sudden personal reasons._

Tamaki's mouth fell open as, for once in his life, he instantly _got it_. It was all he could do to not jump up and run headlong out of the door right then and there.

* * *

If Kaoru had tried to imagine the first twenty minutes of his brother's race to get to his wife's side in time, he would have imagined a lot of running, a constant stream of swear words, and possibly even a car chase or five.

Instead, Hikaru had been sitting sulkily in the back of his chauffeur-driven car, jigging his leg impatiently up and down, and silently contemplating the utter horror that was… the traffic jam.

"Can't we go any faster?" he demanded for the eighteenth time in a burst of impatience.

"I'm afraid not, sir," the driver drawled monotonously, with the air of someone who had heard this question too many times, on too many different occasions.

A loud huff escaped Hikaru's lips as he slumped back in the plush car seat, eyes darting around irritably, glaring at the tops of the achingly slow cars he could see through the window. He didn't know how long it had been since he'd exploded though the car door and announced dramatically '_to the hospital!_', but it had been _too long_. All his prior excitement and giddiness had converted itself into annoyance and impatience; Haruhi was in labour and here he was just sitting around in a stuffy car. He was dying to get there and support her but, as Haruhi would bluntly say, simply _wanting_ to help wasn't much good at all.

Stupid traffic jam. Couldn't these other cars _see_ that he was in more of a rush than them?

"Can't you just go on the pavement and run some people over?"

"I'm afraid not, sir."

Hikaru scowled at his lifeless, automatic response and sulkily glared out of the window again - though admittedly, it was probably better for everyone that he received a 'no' to that question. Desperation seemed to be going to his head. As if to prove this point, a sudden idea occurred to him that made him instantly grin in reckless triumph. Kaoru was right after all - lateness was _most_ unbecoming to a new daddy.

His eyes shining wickedly, he flipped open his phone and, as he punched in a speed dial number, announced out loud, "I'm getting our Cessna."

"I'm afraid not- hm?" The driver blinked, having only just processed what his employer had said. He glanced over his shoulder worriedly, trying to keep one eye on the road, though he wasn't exactly moving very fast. "Your… Cessna, sir? Are you sure that's wise?"

But Hikaru ignored him. He was too busy listening to the merry rings emitting from his phone, still bouncing his leg in impatience and only stilling when the phone clicked as someone answered it. Hikaru didn't even let the person speak before barking sharply, "This is Hikaru. I need you to deploy our Cessna to my position immediately. It's an emergency."

There was a few moments of stunned silence at the other end before the man, a Hitachiin worker, finally spluttered, "The… the Cessna?"

"Yes, you daft git, the Cessna. I need it flown here."

There was a cough as the poor guy, thrown off by the sudden request, tried to recompose himself before he finally managed in a much more formal tone, "O-of course, sir. Where is your position?"

Hikaru quickly shuffled over to the window and glared out of it; the street they were on was still frustratingly close to the hall in which their show had and still was taking place. It was lined with clean, prim and generally boring looking buildings, no doubt housing lots of stern business meetings and even more stern business people, trying to ruin each other's careers so they could climb to the top themselves. High-class shops glittered from the end of the road like a jewel-encrusted cove, one day sales causing them to be full to bursting with flamboyant shoppers.

Irritated at the lack of recognisable landmark, he glanced sharply out of the back window as well and his eyes were instantly drawn to the tallest building there, one he instantly recognised, made of clean pale stone and large luxurious windows. He hesitated for just a second to contemplate the oddness that it would be _here_, of all places, that he found himself on the day of his and Haruhi's children's birth. It was weird how life ran in circles sometimes.

"I'll meet you," he said into the phone, "at the roof of Suoh offices."

After listening to the rapid confirmation, Hikaru flipped the phone closed without another word to them and instead looked up to the driver. "Pull over," he ordered, no time for niceties.

The driver considered, for a split second, actually telling him that it was much more reasonable and safe to go in the car, extra time be damned, but quickly decided against it. He knew his employer well enough by now to know that Hikaru would never listen to him. The driver sighed. His sister was right; deep down, past all the maturity they liked to pretend they possessed, all these Hitachiins were absolutely bonkers.

But then, he supposed as he slipped expertly into the next lane, that did make his otherwise dull job a tad more interesting.

By pure luck, he managed to quickly maneuver the car through a gap in the traffic and get to the outer lane, though there was nowhere to park on the side of the road; it was lined with the flashy cars of the excessive bargain hunters. Hikaru seemed to release this as, with a backward wave of thanks, he opened the door and jumped out, jovially waving to a driver behind them who was shooting him a rude hand gesture for stopping the slow flow of traffic.

Impatience and excitement spiking his blood like sparks of energy, Hikaru hurriedly jogged down the pavement and burst through the glass door of the office building. Ignoring the startled and even scared looks he got from the collection of workers, he stomped over to the elevator and repeatedly jabbed his thumb on the button, tapping his foot restlessly.

A woman who had been waiting to use the elevator herself gave him one look and then slinked off towards the stairs. No one could blame her. With his golden eyes wide and bright, his long fingers twitching restlessly in impatience and his red hair sticking up in odd angles, he looked less like a romantic hero and more like a madman on a mission.

After a lengthy, maddening elevator journey, during which Hikaru damned elevator music to hell and also scared off three people who quickly swerved back out when they saw his impatient glare, he arrived at the top floor. Unlike when he had come up here with Haruhi, all the desks were now full and a few people were milling about with their arms full of documents. An oak, locked door to his side led to what he knew to be the spacious office belonging to Tamaki's father.

He quickly strode across the floor, ignoring the workers, jogged up a few steps and grabbed the handle of the door that he remembered opened out onto the roof. Not really to any surprise if he had thought about it, the door stayed firmly locked when he forcefully tried the handle. He let out a frustrated groan before going back down the steps and scowling at the first passer-by he saw.

He had never felt more impatient in his life. And really, that was saying something.

Hikaru jabbed a thumb stubbornly towards the door. "I need the key," he told a small middle-aged man in a grey suit, who looked horrified he was being talked to. "Give me it."

The man spluttered, red-faced and affronted. "What- Who are you? What authority do you have to-"

"Hikaru Hitachiin, close friend of Mr. Suoh. If you don't give me the _frickin' _key," he threatened in a frustrated growl, just about ready to tear his hair - or someone else's - out, "_I swear _I'll have you fired."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," the man said firmly, drawing himself up and giving him an indignant look that people saved for troublesome teenagers. "Please leave at once, or I'll call security," he warned impressively, earning an awed '_oohh_' from the little audience that had gathered.

Hikaru twitched and he was about to let loose a string of colourfully persuasive language, or possibly just cut to the chase and pin the guy up against the wall, when the majestic oak door to the side clicked and swung open dramatically to reveal the greying and bemused face of Tamaki's father, Yuzuru Suoh. The oldest twin instantly straightened up slightly; he was no Kyouya, but there were some people you had to be respectful to, no matter what the circumstance.

Yuzuru's old, measured eyes took a moment to take everything in carefully, letting no hint of what he was thinking as his gaze scanned the redhead's flushed face and his own employee's indignant one. It wasn't until he had come to a firm assessment of the apparent situation before his face finally showed any emotion, a quality that aided him endlessly in business meetings. His face softened.

"Mr. Hitachiin," he addressed Hikaru almost conversationally, his tone deliberately light. Hikaru suddenly had a strange sensation of being back in school and half expected to have to blag his way out of a detention. "I was under the impression that Tamaki was at your debut show around about now. Or have I gotten my dates mixed up?"

_As if_, Hikaru mused dryly to himself as, with a quick glance at the now frozen employee, he said hurriedly, "I had to leave, sir. I've got to get onto your roof. My wife - Haruhi - she's gone into labour."

"Congratulations," Yuzuru smiled sincerely, eyes twinkling (Hikaru couldn't help the grin that instantly twitched his face). The older man paused deliberately before adding conversationally, "Is there any reason why she's giving birth on my roof?"

"Oh. Err." Hikaru felt his ears heat up slightly, both out of frustration about having such a slow conversation and out of slight embarrassment about his rash decision. He was reminded even more forcefully of school - _I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to dye your son's hair blue for his graduation… _- and he didn't like it one bit. "She's not… actually on the roof…" _But of course you know that. _"But she's been in labour for hours now and I have to get to her fast and there was so much traffic so I- I got my Cessna to come to take me. It should be on your roof in a few minutes."

The older man nodded thoughtfully. "I see. So, without any authorisation, you arranged an aircraft to land on my company's roof, which, by all ways and means, can be taken as trespassing?"

_This is why I should have a portable Kaoru. _"Well… yes," he admitted, deciding that the truth was all he could really say and becoming more painfully aware of the time with every passing second. "I can offer you a formal apology if you like, but right now, I've got to- I mean… I… Haruhi," he finished weakly by way of explanation, deflating, desperation suddenly visible in his face.

Yuzuru pretended to consider it as he cast an amused look over the young emotionally-charged man, a slightly reminiscent feeling coming to him. Ah, it warmed the heart to see such an earnest, fumbling new father. He could only hope that Tamaki would be as much of an idiot whenever his first child was born. He wanted teasing material.

The chairman suddenly looked over at the employee Hikaru had threatened, who had been staring steadily at a spot on the wall for the whole conversation, and said, "Thank you for that loyal show earlier, Mr. Sohma. Very inspiring. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to do what he says however. The keys for the roof please. You understand."

Hikaru instantly grinned widely as the man gave a little stiff bow and muttered 'right away, sir' before darting off, his stoic face quite obviously forced.

Feeling slightly light-headed, Hikaru hurriedly remembered to bow his head respectfully in Yuzuru's direction as he said sincerely, relieved, "Thank you. Just… thank you. Really."

Swapping an amused glance with his secretary, who had been hovering at his elbow, Yuzuru smiled and waved his thanking away with an airy hand. "No problem. Biggest regret of my life, not being there in time for Tamaki's birth. Talking of my wonderful son," he added brightly, "say hello to him for me when you see him, won't you?"

"Sure."

"And tell him to check his mail."

"…Right. I won't ask."

"Good boy."

* * *

Five minutes later, Hikaru was standing on the roof of Suoh offices, exposed to the harsh and bitter March winds, even more flurried and freezing at this height. It held none of the dull warmth of a summer afternoon, as the day he proposed to Haruhi had, and his teeth were already starting to chatter. Stamping his feet furiously in an attempt to keep warm, Hikaru wrapped his arms around himself and glared at the skies about him. Any minute now he'd be on his way. Any minute now…

Hikaru was almost surprised at the intensity and magnitude of his feelings as he waited to be taken to Haruhi's side. Perhaps ignorantly, he'd expected that after eight months of waiting and preparing he'd have some sort of purposeful calm when the day finally came. But no - he was feeling a million different fizzing emotions all at once and they were jolting erratically down his spine, along his veins, inside his skull. Excitement and fear and worry and elation and impatience and many more besides, fizzing and swelling and bursting.

It was though he'd been walking doggedly up to a cliff but it wasn't until he finally got to the top, toes curling over the very edge, that he realised just how high and terrifying and beautiful it was. It astounded him.

Clenching and unclenching his fingers, he began to restlessly pace across the roof in jagged shapes, feet pounding against the concrete zealously and rhythmically. His expression kept flickering between an unnerved grimace and a wild grin.

Boys, Hikaru mused, or girls? It had been something he'd made sure to avoid thinking about, because he knew not being able to find out would bug him, but now he let himself giddily ponder. They'd thought of a host of names for each gender, from the common quaint names to the wildly unique names that the kids were sure to hate them for. _Either way, _he decided firmly, beaming as he took a deep, shaky breath, _they're going to be the best, most awesome, most adorable babies the world has ever seen, ever. And I'll try to be the best dad ever too. I promise, babies, I will. I'll never leave you. I can't believe it's happening now. Oh, God._

Hikaru suddenly registered a choppy, rhythmic buzzing and realised with a jolt that he'd been listening to it getting louder for a few minutes, but had been too far buried in his fatherly thoughts to think about what it was. Holding an arm above his eyes, he squinted around and scanned the skyline. Sure enough, he instantly spotted his family's Cessna, blades pumping and whirring to keep it aloft, the sun making the glass windscreen shine like an eye; it wasn't exactly close enough to land, but close enough that his obliviousness was boast worthy. The wind whipped faster and madder as it flew nearer and Hikaru backed away hastily to give it some room, one arm protecting his eyes, the other stopping his jacket flying around him like a cape.

It reminded him of some sort of mix between a robot and an insect as it finally reached him and hovered to a landing, the still moving propellers now disturbing the already disturbed wind so furiously it felt like it was beating him. Musing that he hadn't expected to be doing _this_ this morning, Hikaru ducked his head and jogged over. The pilot had manoeuvred into the back to slide open the metallic door and Hikaru used her offered hand to haul himself into the cavity of it.

"Hospital," he barked as soon as he shut the heavy door on the whirring propellers.

The woman, who looked very dressed for the role in pilot's goggles, a leather jacket and sturdy lace-up boots, nodded before enquiring just as shortly, ready to jump back to the controls the moment he answered, "Public or private?"

"…Private," Hikaru confirmed firmly after a brief internal deliberation. Assuming Haruhi hadn't gone into labour when out on a leisurely stroll, it had been a Hitachiin employee who had driven her to the hospital and they all knew the private hospital that the family paid heavily for the luxury of.

It was strange and slightly backwards, but Hikaru found that when he had been milling around and waiting for the Cessna to arrive his mind was perfectly willing to wander, but now he was actually on his way he couldn't think of anything but the time. Every second was noted and seemed absolutely vital. Frantic calculations ran through his head as he wrung his hands restlessly, once again glaring out of the window.

Around two hours, he decided. By the time he got there, taking the time of the show, the car ride and everything else into account, Haruhi would have been in labour for about two hours. Maybe more. Over two hours going through it alone. It was enough to make a horrible, greasy feeling slide down his throat and guilt stab at his heart.

Though Haruhi would never say anything more sentimental and needing than telling him to get his ass down to the hospital and other snippets of verbal abuse, and in all honesty was probably excellent at riding the pain of the contractions, he had an overwhelming feeling of being needed. Being needed and not being there. He had to be there to support her, love her, help her, even if that just meant giving her his hand to have fun crushing. He had to hear for himself the first raw cry of his babies, which would be magical and wondrous until he had to get up at three in the morning to answer it.

A small smile quirked his lips as he watched the land sped by, far below, and counted the seconds.

After what seemed like an age and yet no time at all, the pilot was suddenly barking shortly, "Can't land in the hospital."

Hikaru started and stared round at her wildly, feeling his organs drop down darkly to his feet. "What?"

"Can't land in the hospital," she repeated in a naturally loud and barking voice that made her sound like she felt she was in the middle of an action movie. "No room. Going to have to land in that field just over. You'll have to run a bit."

"Oh." He almost giggled madly out of relief. "Oh. Just that. Okay, that's okay. As long as we get there in the next ten seconds, everything's fine."

It wasn't exactly ten seconds, but soon enough they were hovering down and jolting to a stop in the middle of a neatly kept playing field. Their private hospital was located in the less built-up outskirts of the city and the air that blasted into the redhead's face once he heaved open the door was almost painfully fresh after working in a sweaty, perfume-fogged back-stage for so long that morning. As he got ready to jump out, the pilot shouted back a firm 'Good luck!', which he responded to with a jovial salute. This made him feel very cool until he jumped and immediately tripped over his own feet, landing face first in the cold, dewy grass.

Ignoring the woman's roars of laughter that she wasn't bothering to muffle, Hikaru cursed and furiously rubbed at his face before, with as much dignity as he could muster, scrambling up and jogging off as though nothing had happened. After a few paces however, he suddenly realised that he was heading in the wrong direction and, cursing colourfully again, he hurriedly backtracked and began sprinting in the right direction this time, where he could see the pristine curves and colours of their private hospital.

_I'm here, Haru-darlin'_, he thought to himself, trying fruitlessly to regain that dying feeling of being a cool romantic hero. _Wait for me._

When Hikaru had watched that birthing DVD months ago, he and everyone else but Tamaki had known it was a bad idea. Hikaru just wasn't the type of guy who was good at handling that type of stuff and indeed had immaturely dubbed it too _gross_ for the average male brain to comprehend. He should have never watched the movie.

But sadly, he did, and now it was running on a cringe-worthy replay in his head as he sped-walked down to the ward, mouth as dry as sandpaper. He passed powder blue hallways, laden trolleys and chirpy employees but he barely registered any of them, blind to anything but the next turn he had to take. His hands began to get clammy and fidgety as he neared the pale pink door of his destination and he hurriedly stuffed them deep into his pockets, desperately trying to clear his mind of anything but the adorable end products.

The ward seemed blurry and noisy and he found he couldn't focus on anything as he gazed around wildly, completely lost, because nothing was what he wanted to see. No beautiful Haruhi, no adorable end products. Desperate and almost frantic, he waved a hand insistently at a nurse - or doctor, or midwife, he didn't really care who they were - who had trotted up with a polite smile on her face.

"H-hey," he spluttered, swallowing. "Har- I mean, Mrs Hitachiin. I'm looking for Mrs Hitachiin. She's my wife and she's in labour. Can you take me to her?"

The woman - who looked remarkably like a porcelain doll with skin so pale and a smile so perfect - bowed and motioned behind her as she said in a careful, polite tone, "Of course, Mr Hitachiin, I was just with her. If you'll come with me." And with that she promptly began to walk off, leaving Hikaru to hurriedly trot after her as she continued. "She isn't fully dilated yet but she's doing extremely well so far."

"G-good," he muttered, brow furrowed. "Ah - when she's uh… fully dilated… that's when she gives birth, right?"

She paused at a door and gave him a slow look before confirming carefully, "Well…Yes, that's right. Forgive me, sir, but - this is your first child, isn't it?" She waited for a moment as he nodded and added 'twins…' before regarding his pasty face with a hard look.

Finally she advised wisely, "Keep your eyes on your wife's face. And whatever you do," she added as she pushed open the door, Hikaru's eyes instantly focusing and his heart swelling as he sped inside, "don't say anything stupid."

* * *

**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	35. Uncle Kaoru

**Uncle Kaoru**

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Kaoru burst into the room, wheezing and gasping. He flapped his hands at the crowd of people assembled, wheezed a bit more, and then promptly collapsed.

"Hi, Kaoru," Mari said, brightly.

Mari and the rest of the old host club were crowded in the hospital room, conversing in quiet voices about the arrival of the first Host club baby when Kaoru had come bursting into the room. After he had sorted out the end of the show, he had left things in the capable hands of his mother and full on sprinted to the car and from the car to the hospital. A horrible, deep set stich clawed at his side to remind how long it had been since he had bothered to run any distance, and his lungs burned white hot as he tried to splutter at them.

"H-How is... Huh... How are things...?" he finally managed, as Mari and a flustered Tamaki propped him up.

"We can't go in yet," Kyouya said from across the room. He turned a page in his notebook. "Good show, by the way."

"Uh, y-yeah... thanks." Kaoru took a deep breath to steady himself and flapped his hands at Tamaki and Huni, who were trying to dust him down and jump on his head respectively. "Um, anymore... anymore information? I kind of died to get here you know."

"Oh, Kaoru!" Huni crowed, jumping before him as if he wasn't two years his senior. "A nurse came just before you, she said it shouldn't be too long now!"

"Ah! Really?"

"Yes, yes!" He stopped leaping about and smiled in that warm, knowing way he had occasionally that strangely made him seem so much older. "Are you excited?"

"Of course we are!" Tamaki cut in, red faced and beaming. He succeeded in throwing his arms around Kaoru's neck and thrust the protesting redhead to his chest. "Oh, what a wonderful time to be a family! To think we will soon be Uncles, Kaoru!"

"I already told you that you can't be Uncle!" Kaoru retorted back, loudly, trying to wrestle his tired body away from him. He was luckily spared the effort, as a nurse came in then and shushed at them so furiously they all returned meekly to their seats.

Kaoru fidgeted, nerves sending goose bumps prickling along his skin. Everything would be okay, wouldn't it? If it wasn't...

No. No, he couldn't think about that. Down that road lay madness and who knew how long he'd have to stew before the news would come. He just had to borrow some of Tamaki and Huni's optimism; they were beaming and swapping stories about places they were going to take the little twins, Huni occasionally oohing enthusiastically at some present for them Tamaki was showing off from his phone. Mori was sitting nearby, eyes closed and looking peaceful and content; if he didn't occasionally get dragged into Huni's stories, Kaoru would have sworn he had fallen asleep. Kyouya however, wasn't joining in. He was simply going through his notebook, making a note or checking his phone now and then, face carefully neutral. Kaoru wasn't sure whether he was so confident with the birth that he had become bored, or whether this was his way of hiding his nerves.

Kaoru wished he could hide his nerves so well. No matter how many times Mari squeezed his hand or spoke soothingly, the image of the last time they were here and Hikaru's beaming face as he ran off earlier kept clashing in his head. It left a restless, greasy feeling in his stomach.

_Please go fine, please go fine, it will be so perfect if you do, and so, so wrong if you don't._

In the end, he whipped out his portable straighteners (he never left the house without them) and began to play with Mari's hair to get rid of some of his restless energy. Mari simply smiled and began to hum cheerfully.

Kaoru had finished styling Mari's, Tamaki's,and Huni's hair, and was beginning to eye Kyouya's with a purposeful glint in his eye when a nurse finally appeared. She was tiny and delicate, with features like a porcelain doll, but the sweat across her brow and steel in her eye suggested she wasn't half as delicate as she seemed.

"What's happened? Is it done?" Kaoru and Tamaki yelped as one, sounding like an over-excited terrier, before the nurse could even speak.

After pausing deliberately to regain the silence, she tried again; "It all went as smoothly as we hoped. Mother did very well. Mr and Mrs Hitachiin have two healthy baby girls."

_Oh._

Relief flooded Kaoru so completely that he collapsed back into his chair and let his head loll back against the backrest.

_Thank you. _

It went well. It was all fine. People around him were talking excitedly, but he couldn't even register the words. The thought of it going badly, especially after the scare earlier, had scared him more than he could say but it was all for nought because it was over, it was done, and it was all fine. Hikaru and Haruhi had what they had been dreaming of. He had two little nieces. It wasn't just fine, it was _wonderful_.

He ran his fingers through his hair and laughed.

"Is Kaoru Hitachiin here?" The sound of his name caught his attention and he looked up, still feeling rather light headed. He couldn't quite remember when he'd last eaten. The nurse was peering at him, looking somewhat amused. "Ah, well I suppose that's you, sir? Mr Hitachiin said you were his brother, but I didn't realise you'd be quite so easy to pick out."

Kaoru made a strange half agreeing, half giggling noise, and jumped up.

"What did he want?" he asked, giddily.

"Well, they've had a chance to rest now, so they would like to see you. Alone for the moment." Her next words were almost drowned in Kaoru's happy gasp and Tamaki wail of despair that signalled a trip to the corner of woe. "They'll be accepting more visitors when they've had a chance to regain some strength back. If you'll follow me, Mr Hitachiin."

Kaoru squeaked in agreement and trotted after her, waving to Mari as he went and leaving Huni and Mori to convince Tamaki to get out of his corner.

Kyouya smiled quietly to himself and put away his notebook.

* * *

"This is the room," the nurse said, motioning to a clean white door in the middle of a clean white wall. It was all very clinical. "Try not to be too loud. I'll come and see how everyone's doing soon."

Kaoru nodded and, almost bouncing on the balls of his feet, opened the door. The inside was much softer on the eyes; it was a pale blue with a wide window to let the soft, natural light in. A greeting of 'hey, Kaoru!' immediately made his attention swirl to the bed and the sight made his heart twinge.

There was Haruhi in the bed, his sweet little sister, resting on a million pillows and smiling wearily, her sweat drenched hair pulled back by a bandana that matched the walls. Hikaru was sitting beside her, grinning from ear to ear and making a weird head motion to invite him in. They both held a bundle of blankets in their arms, both awe inspiringly tiny. From one, Kaoru could see a little pink hand grasping the air. The tiny fingers wiggled and he almost squealed from the cuteness.

"They're so _tiny_," he cooed in awe, wobbling over to sit tenderly on the side of the bed.

He peered over to get a better look at them. Their sleeping faces peeked out of the covers back at him. Everything about them was so pink and tiny; from their puckered little mouths to their button noses that wrinkled as they dreamt. The one in HJikaru's arms wiggled her fingers again, drawing his attention to an orange wristband before Hikaru blocked it from view by rubbing his thumb softly over her knuckles. Now he looked again at her sister, he realised she sported a wristband too, in bright sky blue, with ' ' and a series of numbers written on it in small neat writing.

"They're beautiful," he said happily.

Haruhi simply smiled and nodded. He didn't blame her for not talking; for the blissful smile she had on her face as she looked down at her daughter, she looked absolutely exhausted. Hikaru seemed more than happy to pick up the baton.

"This is Kyoto," he informed him, proudly holding his daughter out slightly before he let her lean against his chest once again. Kaoru noticed he had some suspicious scratch marks on his hand, but decided not to mention it. "She's the oldest, by 19 minutes and 12 seconds."

"Hiya, Kyoto," Kaoru grinned at her. "How you doing?"

"And that's Hana," Hikaru went on, Kaoru greeting her just as cheerfully. "Hana, Kyoto, that's Uncle Kaoru. You must promise to terrorise him every second unless he spoils you rotten and then some. He's your favourite Uncle, but don't tell him that."

"_Only_ Uncle!" Kaoru whined, to which Hikaru just snickered. Kaoru then made it his life goal to make sure they didn't call Tamaki 'uncle'. "Though I am going to spoil them. I'll get them the best Christmas_and_ birthday presents every year and show you up and everything."

"We're supposed to try and _avoid_ spoiling them," Haruhi muttered, rolling her eyes. Then she smiled and pulled Hana in a bit closer, glancing protectively over to Kyoto as she did so. "Kaoru, do you know where Dad is?"

Haruhi's Dad had unfortunately been spending the weekend at Karuizawa with some friends from work, but Kaoru had taken it upon himself to inform him of everything; he had no doubt Tamaki was doing so too and had probably sent off fifty new updates since they got the good news.

"He's on his way," Kaoru explained. Hana had just moved her tiny hand out of the cover and he softly reached over to hold it. It was so soft and delicate, and made his hand seem so huge in comparison, that he beamed all over again. "When I spoke to him he was just catching it, so he should be here by the early hours, he said."

"Ah." Haruhi nodded and went back to looking over her daughters, eyelids drooping slightly.

Kaoru looked over at Hikaru. "Mom and Grandmother stayed back to sort out all the guests and the back stage stuff - so I didn't have to do it - but they'll be here later," he informed him before adding, "They gave me a message for you too. Mom says she doesn't want to be called grandmother because it sounds too old, but Grandmother _does_ want to be called great-grandmother, because she says it sounds cool. I don't think Dad really cares either way."

Hikaru's expression, which had been amused at first, turned slightly mystified at the mention of his father. "Wow," he muttered. "Did Dad manage to make it? I didn't even notice."

Kaoru shrugged slightly. "Me neither until I was leaving; apparently Grandfather was there too, but I didn't see him."

"Whoa. I totally forgot he even existed."

"I know, right?"

Haruhi rolled her eyes as the twins took a moment to contemplate the mystery of them being practically the first males in their family to not have a tendency to disappear, ninja-like, from everyone's attention. In fact, they did the opposite.

After shifting Kyoto closer and smiling lovingly down at her for a moment, Hikaru suddenly grinned at his brother and wiggled his eyebrows. "By the way! Have you noticed what's really awesome?"

"What?"

"Their initials!"

"…What about them?"

"K.H. and H.H.; just like ours are! We're like… one big H-and-K family!"

"…I worry about you sometimes."

Hikaru laughed.

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**One chapter left! Could it be that after all this time, I will actually finish this story?!**

**Thanks for reading, reviews are greatly appreciated. :)**


	36. The Beginning

**The ****Beginning**

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Moonlight seeped through the blinds and cast a silver outline across the room. The only sounds were the soft, slow breathing of its occupants and the faint bustle of nurses outside. Hikaru smiled, eyes drooping sleepily as he looked across the room and his new family, painted in the greys, blacks, and silvers of night.

Haruhi mumbled softly as she shifted in the main bed, surrounded by plush, fat pillows she had managed to kick off at some point or another. She was frustrated at staying here, he knew, but soon they would be able to return to the mansion and began the strangest page of their lives so far. Next to Haruhi's bed were two tiny cots, made of a silver skeleton and plastic walls so could see the bundle of woollen blankets shift about inside. His heart swelled at the sight.

Restless and awake as he already was, Hikaru decided to sneak over, drawn in by the unexplainable pull his babies held over him. He grinned as he bent over the cots and the identical pink faces, peaceful and innocent with sleep. He still couldn't wrap his head around them. To think he was now a father. He would have thought the months of waiting would have prepared him, but the concept still blew his mind. He didn't think it was all that long ago when he and Kaoru would play pranks on the cooking staff and run cackling from the kitchens, covered in flour and whatever else they had gotten their tiny hands on.

But now he was a parent. He would have to be responsible.

"Scary thought," he mused quietly, beaming affectionately as he stroked Hani's soft, pillow like cheek with a finger. The sight of them had him feel light headed with delight. He dreamt of taking them out to shows and day trips, showing them all the things that amazed him as a child, hearing them talk and tell him all the stories of their imaginary adventures. All weird fatherly things that he didn't realise he was capable of. "I love you two, you know? I'll try my best. Don't go being as much of a terror as I was to my parents, okay?"

Kyoto chose that moment to shift and wrinkle her nose, as if she caught a particularly bad smell.

Hikaru snorted. "Well, just be worse to Tamaki then, deal?"

As if in answer, Kyoto took that moment to open her bleary, baby blue eyes and blink sleepily up at him. Feeling a little thrill at seeing her gaze at him, so bright eyed and aware, he bent over and grinned.

"Hey, sweetheart, what are you doing up? I thought all nighters were for the teenager phase?" Kyoto frowned and waved a few tiny fingers at him, which he instinctively caught, beaming lovingly as he felt how soft and light they were in his; it was like brushing his finger tips with cotton wool. "Don't go waking Haruhi up now, or she'll think I woke you and murder me. Rather brutally, I might add."

Kyoto wrinkled her nose again, as if considering his request. Food or being nice, that face seemed to consider. Hikaru knew which he would choose.

She opened her mouth and screamed.

Hikaru sighed and lent to awkwardly pick her up as Hana's yell instantly joined in and Haruhi jolted from her sleep so suddenly she almost fell out of bed.

"I suppose Mom would call that karma," he muttered.

* * *

"Do you have everything?" Haruhi asked worriedly.

"Course I do, darlin'."

"Bags, nappies, clothes? Babies?"

Hikaru snorted loudly and shifted the backpack he had slung over his shoulder. "It's all in here, minus the kids. I've checked it, you've checked it, everyone to the nurse has checked it. I could give it to that loud woman next door if you like, just so she can check it over too. I never feel quite complete unless a totally stranger has been through my stuff."

"Oh shut up," Haruhi retorted. "I was just... making sure."

"I know."

He smiled, kissed for furrowed forehead, and leant over to grab the handle of the baby carrier. Hana peered up at him from inside, with the big beautiful blue eyes all babies have, and waved a chubby arm at him. She looked just so cute in her padded green suit from his Mother, that he beamed and would have grabbed her out of there to start a long snuggle session had they not already wasted so much time.

Haruhi picked up Kyoto's carrier in both arms, after doing a last check to make sure she was buckled in. Kyoto's wide eyes followed her with such innocent interest that she relented and lent over to kiss her nose.

"Okay," she said, looking over to her husband with a small smile on her face. "I'm all done. Let's go."

With the slightly early birth and the earlier trauma, the doctors had wanted to keep them in a few days longer than was normal, but after just shy of a week they were all set to go home. Kaoru, Ranka and everyone else was waiting at the Hitachiin mansion for a 'surprise' welcome home party, but these first few steps they wanted to take on their own. Their lives had changed forever and it felt wonderful. Terrifying, but wonderful. Hikaru felt he had grown up more in the last week than he had in the last five years;being depended on so completely tended to do that to you.

With the backpack secured and Hana firmly in hand, Hikaru draped his free arm over his wife's shoulder and swapped a warm, tired smile.

"Is there really going to be press outside?" Haruhi sighed, musing how glad she was that they had hoods on the babies' carriers to pull down.

"Well, they can't come inside." Hikaru caught her eye and smirked. "Well, come on, Haruhi, the next big stars in fashion abandon their own debut show because of some adorable additions to the fashion empire? The big papers won't care too much, but the fashion papers are eating it up. Don't look so worried, the car's rights outside, we'll literally only have to walk five steps before we're hidden away. Okay?"

In reply, Haruhi just sighed again. When she was young, she never thought the birth of her own children would be followed by a surge of press. It was just absurd. After a long pause she felt Hikaru fidget awkwardly beside her.

"Look if you really don't want them there... I might be able to get free of them? I could call the car round to the back door, but they'll probably follow..."

"It's alright." Haruhi paused for a few seconds before smiling up him. "I guess I got used to the absurd a long time ago. I almost think it'd be odd if something moronic didn't happen. As long as Hana and Kyoto are out of shot."

She quickly ducked to make sure. The hoods were pulled down and all you could see of them were two pairs of shuffling, bootie clad feet.

"They're fine," Hikaru observed as they reached the small throng of people waiting for the lift. He leant over to kiss her forehead again. "I love you, Haru-darlin'. I really do."

"There are people around," Haruhi immediately scolded, but she looked happy and almost shy as she added, "But I love you too."

He grinned.

"You know, I was thinking Spain might be cool for our first holiday..."

"Don't rush it, Hikaru."

Before they knew it, they were facing the outside door. Haruhi triple-checked the babies, ran another mental checklist of everything that was in the bag, and kicked Hikaru in the shin when he asked how his hair was. They waited long enough to thank the doctors and nurses who had come over to say good bye and to let Hikaru grab two pairs of sunglasses from his pockets for them both and awkwardly slide them on – 'because those cameras can be bloody bright' – before Hikaru finally grabbed a handle.

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

And with that, Hikaru, Haruhi, Hana, and Kyoto went out to face the bright, bustling outside world.

* * *

- Hikaru -

I don't believe in love at first sight.

I used to hold this belief very strongly but now I think, in light of certain events, I'll have to tag a 'most of the time' to the end.

See, if it comes to finding The One, the love of your life, the single person you want to cherish and hold until you're so old and wrinkly that it sure isn't looks holding you two together, then I still don't believe in it. It's a superficial and stupidly romantic notion that truly exists only to people on Tamaki's wavelength. That isn't love you feel for that beautiful girl across the room, but delusion yourself if you like. In my never-to-be-humbled opinion, that slow and surprising fall into adoration, that growth of warm and fuzzy love and understanding, is one of the most wonderful things about finding a partner. I don't understand why some people think it's romantic to compress that exciting, sparkling development into a single fleeting second that disappears so fast.

In some ways, I'm happy that Haruhi, my Haruhi, came into music room three that day dressed as such a nerd - because, let's face it, she looked so bad that mother probably would have fainted on the spot. But now I know my love for her wasn't born of anything merely skin-deep. To me her beauty came later, after I was already captivated by her amazing self. Slowly, slowly, I fell so deep and so completely for her that I've never been able to get out, nor do I want to. Could I have felt anything so pure and wonderful after something as fleeting as a look? Ha. I laugh in the face of Romeo and Juliet, the star-crossed nitwits.

But then there's another side of the coin, a shiny newly-minted side that I took a while to discover, but treasured when I did.

This other side revealed itself to me the day I sat next to Haruhi and let her crush my hand, her half-scream drowning out my loud swear as she rode the last push, dripping with sweat. Then there was a raw, vulnerable cry and I looked up and suddenly all those prior months, filled with emotions I'd pegged as painfully intense, seemed like a pale preamble, a watery imitation.

I looked at that newborn - bloody, weak and so god-damn gorgeous - and was immediately suffocated with an immense, heart-stopping love. In my first few seconds as a father, I forgot to breathe and forgot that I was trying to prove my manliness to Haruhi and manly men didn't cry. Kyoko blew me away.

And it only took one look.

Approximately nineteen minutes and twelve seconds later it happened again with Hana, just as devastating and mind-blowing as the first time, and then again almost five years later when our son, Kaito, was born. I felt a shadow of it when I first saw my sweet little niece, Yuuki, and I only had to look at Kaoru's face to see her effect on him; he just couldn't take his eyes away.

So no, to answer that squealing fan girl from high school again. No, I still don't believe in love at first sight.

Unless there's an adorable baby involved who has already spent nine months positioning themselves to pounce and lay claim to your heart the moment you caught sight of them.

Then it's a different matter entirely.

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**I honestly can't believe this turned out to be so darn long. It actually started life as a drabble. A tiny, 500-word, 'My-God-I-hate-love-at-first-sight-it's-so-shallow -I-know-let's-make-Hikaru-agree-with-me' type drabble. You know the sort. Then, 'well, I do have this idea for a proposal…'. Then, 'I want to write about Kaoru too…'. Then, 'well, I can't not write about the wedding now, can I?' Then, 'heh… pregnancy…'**

**-Insert face palm here-**

**X words and three years later, I am finished! Thank you for sticking with me...;;**

**I had an idea to do a sequel consisting of a number of one shots about the Hitachiin family, but I'm not sure if I will now. Just in case, here's the profile I had in mind for the kids if anyone is interested!**

**Kyoto:** The older and brasher twin. Inherited both Hikaru's blazing red hair, love of pranks and plain old obnoxiousness. She discovered her great passion during the trips Hikaru and Kaoru took her and her sister on when they young, when they took them to different places around the world to see different world famous galleries and great pieces of art. She announced at the age of 15 that she didn't want to carry on the family business; instead she became a freelance artist, spending as much out of Japan as in it. Though she would rather punch you than admit it, the first time she spent a week abroad away from her twin, she cried every night and could only sleep once she phoned her up.

**Hana:** The younger and softer spoken twin. She is as passionate about being in the family business as Kyoto is about being out of it; she particularly loves designing theatrical costumes and so expands the business into this new field. When she young, she would make costumes and force her unwilling family members into them, and started a tradition of an annual Hitachiin Halloween party. Like Kyoto, she'd very protective of her family and loves nothing more than to join her twin on one of her many trips around the world.

**Keito:** A rather scary combination of Haruhi's smarts and seriousness and Hikaru's creativity and love of science. He spends his time inventing a huge range of contraptions that litter the whole house, and when Hikaru lost him at the park, simply got a taxi home. He's fast friends with Kyouya, which scares Hikaru to death, and eventually gets a job researching and inventing medical equipments, the piece of which he's most proud of helped to save his father's life in his later years. Despite all his lone wolf tendencies, he cares deeply about his family and has never missed one of his sisters' or father's shows.

**Yuuki:** Though it never came up, I had the idea that Mari couldn't actually have children. Yuuki was a baby when they adopted her, say six-ish years after the twins, and grew up to have long black hair (that Kaoru likes playing with) and bright blue eyes. She is very shy and battles a long time with anxiety; all those problems however, seem to disappear when she goes on stage, stepping into someone else's life with bright lights blocking the world out. It takes a lot of nudging and support from her extended family to get her going, but eventually she has a career in musical theatre (though she never has an interview; too scary!). She idolises her twin cousins and is actually very close; she used to follow them around when she was little and they would hunt out anyone they were suspecting were daring to bully her.

**Thank you for reading!**

**The end!**


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